


An Angel's Descent

by SomethingToRead



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Two Minds One Body, escaping, split personality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 04:37:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 32,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomethingToRead/pseuds/SomethingToRead
Summary: Alice Angel was born from the ink and has lived in the rundown company building for what seems to be forever. However, things seem to be changing when something comes crashing through the floorboards, or is it, someone? Bendy and the Ink Machine told from Alice's point of view. (Updates Every Saturday)





	1. Can't sleep forever

    _The conductor raised his hands up and the orchestra began to play. She watched from her booth quietly and followed the song along with her book. The music was very light and peaceful, with just a little bit of swing in it. Humming the tune and singing it's lyrics in her head. She took it in for it was perfect according to her taste; however, it came to abrupt end when the conductor suddenly yelled._

_"STOP! Just stop. Which one of you violins is behind?"_

_The three violinist looked at each silently questioning amongst themselves. To which the conductor just rubbed his forehead, and grumbled at them. One of them decided to speak up._

_"Relax man, we're only doing a rehearsal."_

_"WELL, Stupid cartoon music doesn't make itself you know. I got better things to do than this."_

_"Like what?"_

    As the men bickered and accused each other, the edges of her sight grew darker. Until it, all became pitch black and faded away from her. She slowly opened her eyes, well her one good eye. It was blurry for a minute as she sat up. Her vision becoming as sharp as the pain that rammed into her skull. Having a halo stuck in it did wonders for giving her a headache.

    Alice rubbed her head a little, before flinching in pain and withdrawing her hand. The full left side of her face was scarred and dipped down ink. Making it incredibly sore and raw to touch. The ink from her hand and face dipped a little. A big glob of it spilled into the dip of her mouth, and she cringed.  _Ahh, great._

    Being made of ink, this often happened. Yet, for some reason, it felt unnatural. For as long as she could remember she was made of ink. So she should be used to it, right?

    "GET GOING WE HAVE TO FIND MORE INK!"

The yelling snapped her out of her daze. She stopped thinking and replied back to herself.

    "I'm going, I'm going."

    "I NEED INK!"

    "I know, it's just…"

She pressed her hands together uneasily letting the ink mixed for a moment.

    "JUST WHAT? STOP LAYING AROUND AND GET GOING! THE MORE TIME WE'RE IN HERE, THE MORE TIME WE'RE WASTING."

    "We'll be fine, we have all the time in the world."

    "GET UP!"

    "Fine."

Alice got to her feet in a huff and started towards the door of her room. Before leaving the recording booth, she listened carefully and looked around for any ink flooding the floor. Releasing it was safe she quietly made her way back to the toy store floor. As she walked, she started to regret leaving the booth. For some reason, it was familiar and comfortable to her. Like somehow she belonged to it and it was where she needed to be. However, in this ink abyss of a studio, no source of comfort came without a risk.

    Which was why she trying to be quiet, for the recording booth was in the Ink Demon's territory. If she was ever caught by him, he could do such horrible things to her. He could touch her, and then she would…...She couldn't go back to that. So she was extra careful when in his domain, and made sure to leave the cardboard cutouts of him alone. No matter how much she wanted to rip them apart.

     After traveling for what seemed to be hours, she finally made it to the elevator and pressed a button. Listening to the elevator's shrieks and groans made her a bit uneasy. Knowing that she was a few snapping cables before taking a plunge into hell instead of her heaven. When it reached her floor, she basically ran out of it. Her relief was cut short though by someone's moans. She quickly got behind a wooden pillar and looked around her domain. Seeing no danger immediately, she walked cautiously to her workstation. Passing over the boards that kept her from falling into the ink pool with the rest of her 'patients'. Butcher gangs and Borises filled and surrounded it. She then made a dash to her operation room.

    Once inside Alice slammed the door behind her, and grabbed her tool and weapon. A device she had found a long time ago near the ink machine. She was glad she grabbed it then, before being driven deeper underground by Bendy. While it was oddly shaped, it made collecting and ejecting herself with ink much easier. Taking a second to get herself together, she left to hunt down the creature. Things were quiet, too quiet for her taste. Soon, the sound of heavy feet echoed down the hall to her ears. She moved closer to the hall's sharp turn right and watched as the creature's shadow started to show as well. Redding her weapon she waited for its turn, and once it came into view. She slammed her tool down on its head and let the ink fly. Once more she kept pulled back and then started beating it mercilessly until it collapsed.

    It took a minute for her blind burst of rage to subside before she realized who was hitting. She gripped her tool tighter, somehow, and ground her teeth together (well the ones she had). She was hoping for a swollen one, but instead, she had beaten up a Piper. Grumbling to herself she dragged the Butcher Gang's member along. He may not have been what she wanted but she could put him to some good use. She took him with her to the operating room and threw him inside.

    Walking over to her operation table she decided to get to work. She had just gotten herself another Boris last night but had taken a short break to go to the recording booth. It was one of the rare occasions that Bendy had been making his rounds elsewhere. Now that she had two 'patients' though, she had to get rid of one of them. She pulled out her scissors and a pocket knife, that she found around the building, and got to work. She cut out everything that she deemed perfect, then pushed his corpse off the table. Putting the only good parts, in her opinion, in a container for now.

    She dragged the knocked out Piper and heaved him onto her table. She strapped him down and made sure that they were tight. Exchanging one body for another, it was the Boris who had the honor of once more being dragged by her. He wasn't going to go far though. Alice simply took him a hall down and threw his corpse into the ink pool. She watched him sink under the ink and deep into the seemingly endless pit. She would always deny it, but a small part of her felt somewhat bad. Returning to her room she gazed over at her 'friend'. Some creatures or someone's footsteps creaked and echoed from above her little bit of guilt, perhaps, was suddenly overcome with anger.

    "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU COME AND TAINT MY HOME!"

She towered over its unconscious body.

    "YOU COULD HAVE TOUCHED AND LIKE HIM AND-AND TAINTED ME! FOR THAT YOU WILL PAY! AS SOON AS YOU AWAKE YOU'LL REGRET EVER ESCAPING THE INKIE PUDDLES!"

After screaming at his body for a little longer, she was finally able to calm down and get to work. Alice picked up her ink tool and weapon, before grabbing the jar full of Boris's remains. She walked over the other side of the room and stood in front of her minor. It was cracked and broken throughout most of it, but it was the only mirror she could find. She opened the jar and took out the pieces of the face she had removed. Using the last bit of ink she had from the swollen ones, she attached the skin to her own.

    The swollen one's ink was perfect for mixing in that of others, and she always made sure to use it. She carefully folded the ink together with her hands and shaped the skin to fit her needs. Finally done she removed her hands completely and admired her work. Alice had built more onto the left side of her face, creating a border between her eye, and mouth.  _Hopefully, I can avoid having parts of an eye in mouth now._ Yes, the eye was now a black hole in her head, and she didn't have enough ink to full reshape that side of her mouth. But at least, she could tell visibly what was what. The sound of the ink pipes started up and started to leak, with the footsteps echoed once more.  _What is going on up there?_ She stared up at the ceiling as if she could see through the wood. Looking away after a minute, she noticed her tool's ink level.

    She may have fixed one of her face problems, but now she was out of the perfect ink. She groaned a little at the thought of having to go hunt more of them in Bendy's domain. Before she could think much more about it though, the room started to leak ink. Suddenly, as far as she could see every room's ceiling was covering and dripping with it. She was used to Bendy spreading ink but never before had she seen so much of it bleed through the boards.  _Someone's mad._ The footsteps came echoing back but now were faster and heavier. A loud snap of a board rang out along with a loud thump of some heavy object hitting the ground. Alice stayed quiet and listened for anything else. After a few minutes, the footsteps came back and with some boards breaking, it faded away.

 _I've never heard anything like that before._ Something was happening, something was going down, and something was here now. Perhaps, it was some **one**. Whatever, it was her curiosity was peaked. Alice was going to find, and use it to benefit her.


	2. A Pencil of the Past

    The halls groaned and the pipes creaked. For it had been some time since the ink machine was running and pumping, making the pipes' sore. The walls themselves didn't seem to be happy with it either. They groaned under the added pressure and were starting to be covered in the black substance. While their complaining was loud you could still a quiet hum. Of a song that was light and peaceful, with just a little bit of swing in it. One that she had lost the words to long ago, and somehow came back her to her through dreams. Yet, when she would awake the words and her world would fade away.

    "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

Alice stopping humming for a moment and with that stopped walking.

    "No."

    "WHY NOT?"

    "I want to sing it."

    "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WANT! STOP!"

She huffed and put her hands on her hips.

    "No. Why can't I hum anyway?"

    "WE'RE ON THE VERGE OF A MIGRAINE, I'D LIKE TO AVOID ONE FOR ONCE."

    "Well, too bad. I'm going to keep humming whether you like it or not."

She gritted her teeth and folded her arms.

    "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?"

    "Hey! I wanted to stay in our safe haven, but you wanted to go into the Ink Demon's territory. I wanted to stay in our operating room, but you wanted to go find the fallen thing. A thing that might not even be worth our time. We could be gathering more of the swollen one's ink to keep it together, but NO we're hunting for some mysterious creature!"

The other half of her, or whatever you would call it, didn't reply. After a minute of silence and uncomfortableness, a part of her finally broke it.

    "Look we're doing what you want, so I can at least done what I want and hum."

    "FINE."

Alice finally continued down the hall, but she didn't continue her song. The mood wasn't pleasant anymore and she couldn't find the song in her then and there. Like it had once been clean and afloat, before sinking into an ink puddle never to be found again. With it no longer distracting her, she focused more on the sounds around her. Listening carefully for anything like the fallen thing's noises. Along with this, she traced the walls with her fingertips as she walked. Leaving behind little droplets of her own ink to mix with the walls'.

    As she walked around and kept her eye peeled she came to a stop at the end of a hall. Normally, she could pass through it, but now no. A slightly angry frown came on her face as she looked at it. Hearing a creaking sputter she looked up at a pipe in the middle of the hall, that had a crack in it.  _No wonder why it's flooded._ The stairs and hallway had become a pool of ink. Leading her to a new revelation, with the ink machine pumping and twisting, there was no telling where else it was going to flood.

    "What if it floods in our room? We'll have nowhere to stay and-and"

    "STOP FREAKING OUT. THE PIPES FROM THAT PIECE OF GARBAGE RUN BY IT, YEAH, BUT I DOUBT IT'LL FLOOD IT."

    "You think so?"

    "YES, SO STOP LOSING IT AND LET'S KEEP MOVING."

Alice turned away from the black pool and traveled back the way she came. Dragging her fingers once more she continued the conversation with herself.

    "It's a good thing we have another way to get around. Otherwise, we might've just been stuck in our room."

    "WE'LL HAVE TO GO THE LONG WAY AROUND NOW, THOUGH."

    "We will have to won't we? Well, If if it's okay with you, I think we should start avoiding this area of the hall altogether. There aren't many rooms here and without that stairway, there's nowhere to go. If Bendy comes…"

She stopped for a second, before going on this time at a faster pace.

    "I'm technically wrong though if Bendy comes and we are down here we could escape. We would just have to go through the ink."

Memories of darkness and coldness filled her head and screaming voices came too. She rubbed her arms to try and comfort herself.

    "NO. WE'RE GOING TO AVOID THIS HALL YOU UNDERSTAND!"

    "Yeah, that's what I was thinking too."

Suddenly a loud screech came from the ceiling. Alice quickly looked up to see another different colored pipe screaming. It was loud as it started its job again whatever that was. Looking up and down the hall she could see that it stretched all the way. A new sound echoed down the hall, it wasn't as loud as the screeching ink pulsing pipe but it wasn't quiet either. One side of her was scared and wanted to run back to their room. The other side was frightened a little as well but still wanted to push on.

    Both sides regardless of their thoughts had one main emotion between them both that forced them onwards. For neither side could deny the very feeling that had somehow damaged to get them to leave their domain in the first place. The one that had started them on their little quest for the fallen thing as well. She listened with curiosity as she slowly walked back down the hall towards the pool. As the new noise grew louder, she grew tenser. Tip Toeing over the edge of the pool, her eye, and her ears followed the pipe. For that different pipe dipped into ink abyss and bubbles were rising from around it.

    Little markings on it were beginning to show.  _They look like measurements, but why measure-_ The answer hit her like a ton of bricks. She carefully watched the ink and how more marks started to show.  _It's draining the ink._ The substance had always been flooding the places and was the base for life down here, and someone was draining it. Alice didn't stay there for a minute more. She quickly turned around and raced down the hall following the pipe.

    She had to know how it worked, where it worked, and what it was for. At least she had to find out who was using it. Down that hall and down other ones she went. While she ran a noise echoed from the direction she was running in. She slowed to stop and listened to it. Heavy steps were coming closer and closer.

    She madly looked all over the place for anywhere to hide. Seeing a door, she dashed over to it. Swinging it open she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. Alice flicked on a light and locked the door. The room was incredibly small and barely had any space for the desk that was in it. She sat on top of it and let her legs dangle off of it. She stayed quiet as the heavy steps grew louder. She had only heard them before when the creature had fallen from the ceiling.

    She watched as a shadow came to her door, and the footsteps stopped. Not quite sure what to do, she turned the light off and stayed quiet. The metal rustled and tapped against itself in a high pitch screech. Listening to the creature continuously turning the doorknob in an attempt to get in, scarred her. Panicking she brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. It felt like hours had passed by before the creature left her door and its echoed out of her hearing.

    She still sat there though in the dark out of fear that the creature would suddenly come back. It would return and drag her back to the ink pool where it would drown her. Where she would fuse with the ink again and all her hard work would be for nothing. With this scenario in her head, she sat quietly for a while longer. Before, finally working up the courage to turn the light on. Even then the most she could do was slowly get off the desk onto the floor.

    Not exactly feeling like jumping out and making a run for it. Alice looked around the tiny room a little more. Besides the desk, a few ruin posters hanged on the wall. A few letters and small bits of drawings could barely be seen. A pipe had been leaking ink from the ceiling and it had covered the two posters in there. She looked at the desk a bit closer and felt a strange feeling in her chest. She opened one of the desk's drawers and found some pencils and brushes inside. One particular pencil caught her eye and carefully reached in to get it. The feeling grew even stronger as she looked at the object.

    She shut the drawer and sat back on top. She stares intensely at the object in her hand. It was a simple black pencil with scratched white letters on it. It read "The little devil himself draws with this", and had Bendy's head carved into the bottom. The feeling overwhelmed her now, a feeling of familiarity. Alice leaned back against the wall and closed her eye as the memory played.

_She was standing right outside the room and looking in through the doorway. A man sat in the chair in front of the desk. He was digging around in the cluttered drawer looking for something. She stepped a little closer to him and looked over his shoulder at the papers on his desk. Toy blueprints and early designs were scattered around. Everything from prototype plushes to windups littered areas of the floor and were packed on shelves on the wall._

_The man suddenly shot up and she quickly pulled back to avoid his head from colliding with hers. He turned to her, and she got a good look at him. He wore a white shirt with little black stripes going down them. Black overalls had their suspenders hidden by his brown jacket. A matching brown tie hanged from his neck and it swayed when he moved or talked. Leading her to look at his face. He had short brown hair and with slightly tan skin and a sharp cut face shape. But his face itself was black and scribbled out. She couldn't recall it and for that, her memory had filled itself in with destroying black lines blurring the area. He faced her and raised up his hand to present a pencil. The same one she had picked up moments ago._

_"What do you think?"_

_His voice may have been deep, but his energy and hopefulness would never be hidden in it. Her voice, on the other hand, wasn't anything like it. Her jaw moved and she could feel words slipping off her tongue. Yet, she couldn't hear a word of it or remember what she said. He replied to her though._

_"It's not just a pencil! It's the pencil, the first official Bendy one. Or at least will be."_

_Words slid off her tongue into oblivion._

_"Hey! I think it'll sell. Children can't take toys or merch to school, but they can take pencils. What better way to show off what show your love than with this. You just wait, kid. Children may buy plushies and wind-ups, but everyone needs a pencil. Children, teens, adult, everyone needs one. "_

_More words slid down the slide of her muted tongue. Whatever she said it seemed to upset the man a little. He slumped a little in his seat and put the pencil on the desk._

_"Besides, our rival studio is already selling all the same stuff we are. We need something new, why not trinkets?... JUST JUST Wait! With more ideas like this we can sell new things and do better than that dumb cartoon dog's sales will ever do. I'm sure Joey will agree too."_

_With that said and done, he turned back to his desk. Diving back into his piles of paper and toys the door to his office closed. Leaving her in hall staring at the shut room, before moving on her way. Walking down a now fading hallway deep into the darkness of forgotten memories._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment on this story. I'd like to know what you think.


	3. An Ink Puddle

    Alice ran her fingers up and down the pencil once more. She had been sitting on top of the desk for who knows how long. Finally taking a deep breath, she slid off of it. Carefully putting the pencil back in the drawer she closed it. Facing the door, she didn't know whether or not she should leave the room. Had she waited long enough for the fallen thing to disappear? If it hadn't, Did she have enough time to get back to her sanctuary? How long had she been dreaming or remembering some time long gone? For time was something that just seemed to pass, yet couldn't be kept track of here.

    She opened the door a tiny bit and peeked out. After listening for anything and getting no footsteps in reply, she opened the door and left. She nervously rubbed her hands together and quietly started her trip "home". The boards on the floor creaked and the ones that didn't, simply couldn't. They had creaked and groaned until they snapped. Halls were brown and stained with water or ink, maybe both. The ceilings were either ready to fall from old boards holding too much, or ready to cave in from ink ruining them for all these years. Ink that could just be that, or could contain the screaming voices of those who didn't escape.

    It was sad, to put it simply, that life was trapped in a building of reforming and death. The ink creatures though had no choice but to stay for there was nowhere to go. Going outside and leaving the building was basically a form of suicide. Monsters couldn't hide out there. Although, if one didn't look like a monster perhaps they could go out. Go out and blend with the people, escaping the building's deadly trap. And that someone who planned to do just that, was starting to get a headache from the halo stuck in her head.

    "YOU WOULD THINK, THAT FOR ONCE WE COULD CATCH A BREAK."

Alice rubbed her forehead as she walked.

    "I think it was that vision-memory thing that triggered it."

    "WHATEVER. LET'S JUST GET BACK TO OUR ROOM AND SLEEP, BEFORE IT BECOMES INSUFFERABLE."

    "Sounds good to me."

However, it was at that moment she came to a dilemma. She reached the split off of the halls.

    "Why are we stopping?"

    "WHICH WAY SHOULD WE GO?"

    "We talked about this a little bit ago."

Her body started off towards the other way around, which would be longer. She stopped herself though from going down it, yet.

    "I THINK WE SHOULD CHECK ON THE FLOODED HALL."

    "Is this because of that draining pipe?"

    "IF IT HAS BEEN DOING ITS JOB THAN IT SHOULD BE CLEANED UP SOME."

    "I see if it's clear then we can cut our trip in half. Which means less walking, and more time trying to sleep off this pain."

    "RIGHT."

    "But if it's not clear, and the fallen thing is down there…."

    "IT SHOULDN'T BE, I THINK."

    "Okay, I do think we should go look at it. We'll have to be quiet and careful."

    "AGREED. WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE TROUBLE."

Alice made her way down the hall as quietly as possible. She watched for any obvious boards that were cracked to avoid making the least amount of noise possible. When it came to a hall's sharps turn, she would peek around the corner before moving on. While all this was going on though, she held a conversation with herself. Whispering as quiet as she could.

    "It's shame that we can't always do that."

The other side replied quietly, for once. And the demonic scratchy tone that it usually carried seemed to have somehow lost some of its edge.

    "Do what?"

    "A….Nevermind, it's not important."

    "Fine."

She drew closer to the hall and its ink pool. When they arrived at the final turn before seeing it, they stopped. They stood there and listened carefully. Without making a sound they looked around the corner. With no ink creature or fallen thing in sight, they preceded to get a look at the ink pool. Alice's jaw fell open and she stared dumbly at the ink puddle. For the pool had been drained and that's all that was left of it, a spread out puddle. Sure the whole hall was pitch black and looked like the inside of a paint can, but that was still a major improvement.

    "I CAN'T LIE I'M IMPRESSED."

    "Yeah."

She slowly went down the stairs to keep herself from slipping and stood almost in the dripping hall. It was dark and she could barely see a little flicker of the other stairs light. It was unsettling, even for this ink death trap of a building. She debated going the long way around until a spike of pain shot through her head. She rubbed her head a little and grumbled some choice words as she walked into the wall. It was pure black for most of her journey and only the flicker of light at the other stairway gave her something to see.

    As she finally reached it and stepped into the flickering lights, the sound of groaning boards echoed. Another heavy sound came with it as well, but she couldn't place exactly what it was. Not willing to investigate and find out, Alice looked around. Spotting a pile of stack barrels she climbed over them and ducked down. She spied through some cracks and listened.

    As the groaning grew louder she could hear some muffled words that grew clear as the creature drew closer. Down one of the halls that crossed with another one, she saw it. A tall ink man stepped out into her sight. From where she what she could see he seemed to be wearing some dark pants. A Bendy mask covered his face if he even had one.

    What really stuck out out her though, was not the monster itself but rather what was with him. He was dragging along big...bag. Maybe? She tried to make out what it could be when his voice reached her ears. From what she could hear was deep and gravely.

    "He will save me."

That voice sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before? She didn't have to dwell on it long when something finally clicked. Alice's eye winded and her breath caught in her lungs. While the creature was starting to disappear behind the wall, the "bag" had come into full sight. Allowing her to see it's full shape and silhouette. Is that-Is that a body? She looked away and shook her head. A second later she turned back to do a double take; however, he and his body were gone. Racing through her head was what it could be.

    "IT'S GOTTA BE ONE."

    "You think so? I've never seen one that big before."

    "WE GOTTA GET IT!"

    "What about the guy who was dragging it? He clearly works for Bendy, no way will the Little Devil let us have it."

    "WE'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO TAKE IT."

    "Are you sure we should do that?"

    "IF WE GET THAT THEN WE'LL HAVE ENOUGH INK TO FINISH US. WE'LL BE PERFECT."

    "You think it's worth the risk?"

    "YES."

    "Alright, Let's do it."

    "LET'S DO IT!

    "Let's get ourselves that swollen one!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think.


	4. The Trapper or the Trapped?

_Dang, it._ Floorboards groaning was just common sound in the broken building. However, they always seemed to be the loudest when someone was trying to be quiet. Alice was following the Bendy mask wearer back to-to, well wherever he was going. Why was she doing it? Was it to meet him and finally have company in that dark lonely ink world? Heck, no! He had something she wanted, no needed, and she was going to get it. Even if she had travel deep into the Demon's territory, and that was what she was doing at the moment.

    As the Bendy fan and his captured swollen one took another turn, she made her down that hall. She stopped at the corner and peeked around the side, watching him make his way. Suddenly she heard a little tap sound and that drew her attention away from him, for the moment.  _Where is that coming from?_ She glanced around and heard it again. So she looked down and a frown came over her face.  _Seriously._ She quickly looked over the corner to see the creature still slowly moving with his prize. Alice pulled back behind the wall and looked at her hands. Hands that were shaking and had been against the wood causing the tapping sound. In a harsh whisper, she said,

    "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

    "I-I don't know."

    "WELL, WHATEVER IT IS STOP IT! DO YOU WANT US TO GET CAUGHT?"

    "Sorry, it's just…...Sorry."

    "IF YOU WANT TO KEEP SAYING SORRY GO AHEAD, BUT STOP WITH THE HANDSHAKING."

She watched her hands and saw nothing change.

    "STOP IT."

    "I'm sorry, it's just we're following a Bendy guy and we're in Demon territory. I'm not exactly content right now."

    "OH SUCK IT UP. AS THEY SAY, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE."

    "Well, eye for us."

    "DON'T BE A SMART ALECK."

When the other half didn't reply, she let the conversation drop. Alice peaked around the corner, only to see the creature was gone.  _Oh no._ She dashed down the hall and tried not to make a sound.  _Where did it go?_ The hall split into two and looked up and down both to see if she could catch a glimpse of it. The sound of boards grunting and yelling, with a squeaky sharp sound came from the left. She followed the sound down the hall and past one more turn, before coming across a giant opening. It was the size of two doors and was cut in a perfect square out of the wall. Over it was a large pull-down door with its little string dangling back and forth. It was one of those storage or garage doors, that were easy to fling up and pull down.

    The big opening allowed Alice to get a great view of the room from outside. She couldn't make out the room's inside very well from a lack of light in it. The only light in there was from some scattered candles that were lit. and a little from a flickering light in the hall. But from what she could tell, it seemed the Bendy Mask wearer was putting the swollen one in a chair. He mumbled something under his breath and picked something off the floor near him. He seemed to be tying the swollen up then, and when he was done he stepped back to admire his work. His deep gravely echoed a little in the room.

    "There we go, now we're all set."

His turned his head a little to the left and right.

    "I'm going to need more candles for the circles, I can't let my savior think I'm ripping him off or holding back. Although, I don't think he'll mind when he gets a load of you my little sheep."

    With that said and done, the Bendy follower turned full around and started off to the door. He stepped outside of the room and pulled the door down the ground. Alice pulled back behind the corner and glanced around the hallway in a panic. Spotting a door a few feet from her, she dashed over to it and got inside its room. She shut the door and let darkness consume her. She helped the door's old handle tightly as she watched him pass.

    His shadow, she could see through the bottom of the door, slowly passed by and she listened carefully to his footsteps. They sound like his feet were wet, and they made a smacking noise every now and then. Like someone's steps after they have gotten out of the pool, and it echoes on the tiles. The water she knew didn't cling to him though, but rather the dark life-giving substance from their machine.

    She waited for his sluggish steps to drift out of her hearing before opening the door. She firstly checked to see if he could be anywhere in that hall, then she made her way to his room. She was surprised to find the pulled down door was extremely lite to put up. As rose up she found herself staring at the swollen one, what she could make out of it that is, in uncertainty. If she was to take this thing and get away, she could make herself beautiful. If not though, she could be caught by him and he was Bendy follower no less. No matter what happened it then, it definitely wouldn't be good.

    "IT'S TOO LATE TO GO BACK."

Alice just took a deep breath as she entered the dark room. Now, that she was closer to it she realized a few things. The swollen one was much bigger than she thought it was, and something to her seemed a bit off about it. Even the shadows something just didn't seem right.

    "WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW. LET'S JUST GET IT AND GO."

    "Okay, okay."

She started untying the ropes and took notice of the knot that held them.  _Geez, if the guy is going to kidnap someone he needs to work on his knots._ She pulled at one of the rope's ends and it became a little loser, but then her hand brushed up against the swollen one's chest. She flinched and was going to pull her hand back when she felt it.  _Is that?_ She touched it again and confirmed it, the fabric the was soft and felt nice against her fingers.

    "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"

    "What?"

    "WE CAME ALL THIS WAY FOR A BORIS OR SOMETHING."

    "It could be a swollen one."

    "YEAH, CAUSE THEY'RE KNOWN FOR WEARING CLOTHES RIGHT!"

    "Hey!"

    "ALL THIS WAY FOR SOME DEFECTIVE BORIS."

    "Look on the bright side."

    "WHAT BRIGHT SIDE?"

She rubbed the fabric between her fingers again.

    "This fabric is really nice."

    "ARE YOU KIDDING ME! YOU'RE JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS GUY'S SHIRT!"

    "Well-Wait."

She let go of the creature's shirt.

    "Why does it have a shirt?"

The only type of clothes down here, besides her own, were overalls. Even then, they were usually only worn by Boris. Alice took a step back from the mysterious creature. Looking over its form, confused her even more. It didn't look like any ink being she had ever seen. Its head wasn't a perfect circle, and what looked like hair was on top of it. Its ears were shaped like one of a Piper's, with it being small and a little off from a circle. It couldn't be a Piper though, for it was much bigger and the rest of its body didn't match. Or least she thought it didn't, she still couldn't see that well in the darkness.

    "What is this thing?"

Suddenly a creak from a floorboard came from behind. She turned around and her breath caught in her throat. The Bendy follower's silhouette stood in the doorway with his hand on the pull-down string. His already gravely voice somehow became more scratchy and dry.

    "Well, well well, it seems I have a guest in the house of my savior."

He stepped forward, but still kept his hand on the string. His tone became threatening and mixed in with his voice.

    "And, she's an angel no less."

His tightened around the string, and in the blink of an eye he pulled the door down. The light complete disappeared with the slam of the door. Its quick closing had caused a rush of air to come forward. It was barely noticeable to her, but it was enough for the candles. They immediately went out. Leaving them in completely in utter darkness, the Bendy follower, the abomination in the chair, and Alice Angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's been fun writing this and I'm glad that you're reading it. So please tell me what you think about my story.


	5. And Then There was Three

    She had been in the darkness before, and it had taken her too long to see light. This new darkness she was thrown into may not have been a bloodied ink pool with a loud grinding machine. It wasn't anything like that, but it still had the same feeling as that ink did. It was full of fear, and uncertainty. Like in that pool as well, she wasn't alone. Alice was in darkness with some creature and a Bendy follower. A possibly dangerous Bendy follower. So she stood still and listened carefully for any sound of movement from either of them.

    "Why so scared little angel?"

    She jumped at his voice and backed up. When she touched the tied up creature though, she shot forward. In a nervous notion, she pulled her hands close to her chest and held them together tightly. His voice was rough with bits of playfulness in his words which tumbled off of his tongue.

    "Well, aren't you going to answer me?"

She only gulped in response.

    "I know you can talk."

It may have been quiet in that room, but internally Alice was fighting with herself on what to do.  _DON'T SAY ANYTHING! What if he's dangerous? NOT A WORD! If we talk with him then we'll be pleasing him, and-EXACTLY! THAT'S WHY WE'RE GOING TO STAY QUIET. IF WE PLEASE THIS GUY WE MIGHT GET DRAGGED INTO GOD KNOWS WHAT. If we do though, then maybe he'll listen to reason. THERE'S NO REASON DOWN HERE. HECK, YOU HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF FINDING SOMEONE WITH MORALS IN THIS ABYSS. Well, he might listen to us and-BECOME JUST LIKE US. I-Hey! What do you mean by that?_

    His voice cut through her thoughts quickly with his aggravated tone.

    "FINE. Be like that, we'll see how quiet you are when our savior gets here."

    "Savior?"

_YOU IDIOT, DON'T TALK TO HIM!_

    "So you can talk, I knew it."

She could feel and hear his smirk in the darkness.

    "Our savior is coming?"

Playfulness mixed with a knowledgeable tone spilled forth to her ears and filled the darkness.

    "Yes, that's why you came here right? To witness his arrival."

    "Um, yes."

_WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?_

    "Wonderful, I was afraid for a bit that he didn't have enough believers. Even if you are."

He paused for a minute to find the right words.

    "Are troublesome to put it nicely."

    "Oh, well you know."

    "I suppose I do, but it's time to put that behind us and go forward."

    "Behind us?"

    "Yes, I understand why you act out and fight against him, but you shouldn't. Not if you want him to save you."

    "Fight against him-Who are you talking about?"

    "Before, I used to try and escape him. I ran from the ink and locked myself away from him. Anything to avoid this life, but you can't escape fate."

 _Escape fate? THIS GUY IS CRAZY._ Some of the floorboards creaked.

    "He gave us these new bodies, and he will be the one to set us free from them. To let us transcend to those bright grounds and out of the earthly ink. To set us free from his inky hell."

_He can't be talking about who I think he is, is he? HE IS A NUTSO._

    "Our savior the ink devil."

_Oh my god, he is. WHAT DID WE HONESTLY EXPECT THOUGH, HE HAD ON A FLIPPIN MASK OF THE GUY._

    "I can't believe it."

He sounded excited at her line, and the boards went ahead groaned in response for her.

    "I know soon he will here and all the believers will be free."

With that said suddenly something inside of Alice snapped. The other part was filled with rage and aggression and lashed out at the only person it could. Inside her head, it yelled angrily.  _FREE FREE! HE THINKS THAT MONSTER WILL SET US FREE! Calm down. NO! YOU'RE RIGHT WE NEED TO TALK TO HIM. Don't you dare-"_

    "YOU IMBECILE!"

 _Oh my god._ She couldn't stop her or was it herself. They had conversations with each usually out loud, for each preferred that their voice could be heard. Perhaps, they did that to feel semi-normal, like regular people talking. However, this was about to be no pleasant conversation. The Alice that hummed and was scarred most of the time was pushed under. The other Alice came up and brought her anger with her. Which she unleashed onto darkness and it's figure.

    "I THOUGHT YOU WERE CRAZY BEFORE BUT DANG! YOU MUST NOT HAVE HAD A MIND TO START WITH IF YOU TRUST THAT DEMON!"

    "Excuse me!"

    "SORRY, I CAN'T EXCUSE YOUR STUPIDITY. HOW CAN YOU WORSHIP THAT MONSTER?"

    "I-"

    "IF IT WASN'T FOR HIM THEN WE WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS! WE WOULDN'T WE MADE OF INK."

She pulled her hands away from her body and looked at them. In the darkness, she couldn't see the dripping ink appendages. But she knew they were there and they were apart of her.  _Please calm down._ The voice just upset her more and she clenched her hands into fists.

    "WE WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS! WE WOULD HAVE BETTER LIVES. WE-WE WOULDN'T BE STUCK LIKE THIS! AND CERTAINLY NOT IN THIS PRISON!"

His deep voice was full uncontrolled rage like hers as he yelled back. The creaking boards became louder and more frequent then.

    "HOW DARE YOU!"

    "HOW DARE I?"

    "HOW DARE YOU COME INTO MY ROOM AND TAINT IT! WITH YOUR THOUGHTS AGAINST OUR SAVIOR!"

    "SAVIOR MY-"

    "LANGUAGE! I WON'T HAVE YOU TAINTING MY ROOM EVEN MORE WITH YOUR FOUL WORDS!"

    "FOUL WORDS AREN'T THE THING THAT IS TAINTING YOUR "PRECIOUS" ROOM!"

    "YOU KNOW WHAT! I WAS GONNA LET YOU GO AND BE PART OF THE SACRIFICE BUT NOW, NO."

     "OH BOO HOO! WHATEVER WILL I DO!"

He stopped yelling and said in an unsettling tone that only an old crazy man can have.

     "You're no longer going the be part of the sacrifice. You're going to be the sacrifice."

The sound of a door slammed shut and a second later the lights came on. Alice quickly covered her eye in an attempt not the be blinded by the sudden brightness. When she had adjusted she quickly glanced over at the pull-down door where he had once stood. Yet, the Bendy worshipper wasn't there. A high pitched squee came from the wall, and she looked up above it to sean an old intercom. That made a buzzing noise as his words were tunneled through it.

    "There's no more time to argue for soon the ritual will start and both of you will sleep little sheep."

 _Both of us?_ Alice turned her head around to look at the creature. When she saw it, she stopped breathing and her eye widened.  _It's-it's._ A middle-aged man was tied up in that chair. His blue shirt, black pants, and face were covered in ink. Yet, she recognized him. A flash of blurry memories appeared of that man when he was younger. He sat that desk completely bending over that desk drawing, animating. Next, it was of him passing her a sheet, what the words were she couldn't tell. Whatever they were she only knew that they had her happy.

    The next flash was crystal clear of him. He turned to her and held out that pencil. When it ended she could only stare at him and compare the differences. His once brown hair that he had to brush back with a comb was mixed with gray and it had receded. His past smile was big and surround by stumble, that had now turned gray with time as well. She couldn't see eyes, eyes that were and hopefully are still brown. She hadn't heard his voice, yet there was no else it could be.

    Alice Angel stood in a room with a tied up man. Both of them were going to become a Bendy sacrifice. By a mad ink made man with a fan mask. With some serious problems and really needed some therapy. Yet, that wasn't who she was thinking about, it was that man. A man that she could vaguely remember, and had seen in a dream. A man named,

     "Henry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you guys think. I'd really like some feedback.


	6. A Melody of Past Memories

    What is there to be said. How do express your thoughts and emotions when too many things are happening? For there may be thousands of words out there, yet none seemed to perfectly fit what she was feeling. Alice had lost her words at that moment as she simply stared at the man. Henry sat in that chair, clearly unconscious, with ropes tied around his body.

    "His face is familiar isn't it?"

The Mask wearer's voice came out of the intercom and grabbed her attention.

    "I can't exactly place where I've seen it before, but no matter this must be done. The sacrifice will continue on as planned and you, Angel, will be part of it."

She said nothing to him and simply kept staring at Henry. Bits and pieces of a memory started to flash once more. She found herself in that room again. The musicians were all lined up and the blurred face of the conductor stood in front of them. She could still hear the mask wearer's voice as she watched them tune their instruments. But it didn't pull her out of the flashback film.

    "Can you hear him? He crawls above us in control like the god he is."

The conductor raised his arms and signaled them all to get ready. While the papers rustled and people scratched the floor with their chairs, Henry came in. He moved towards the corner of the room and leaned against the wall. A second later he seemed to notice her watching him and gave her a smile and waved. She felt her own lips curl up as she simply nodded back at him in acknowledgment.

   "We can't deny nor defy him, for only he can save us."

As the conductor waved his arms and some strings began, she turned back to her own sheets. The recording light turned on with her microphone and she flipped to a new song.

    "He can return us to past lives and set us free. Or least he'll set me free. I know you and him aren't on the best terms now."

The music started and she waited for her cue. This one wasn't the song from her dreams, but another 's words she could slowly feel coming back to her.

    "Although, I am honored that you still came to see me. It's shame it has to end like this."

Perhaps he had more to say about it, Alice would never know though. As she came back from the past to the present the song came with her. Which surprised her for she could barely remember things from back then. Now, she wasn't going to let the rare stuff that she could fade into darkness. Instead, of it disappearing like who knows how many other people and words were poured into her head and they flowed beautifully out her mouth. She closed her eyes and started to sing the little jiggle.

    "He's here, he's there, he's everywhere

    From the paper plains to the inky sea

    He's our little devil

    Bendy!

    He's here to bring lots of fun to everyone

    The most mischief character on your tv

    He's our little devil

    Bendy!"

She opened her eyes to hear ragged breathing and some quiet moans. She held her breath as she watched Henry's mouth and one of his closed eyes twitch. All he did though was let out another short quiet moan as his face twitched a little. Henry was silent once more, but the mask wearer was not. He quickly snapped at her through the intercom.

    "WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT?"

Alice fell silent for all the words vanished instantly. It was a song that you could listen to once before it fades into nothingness.

    "ANSWER ME!"

When she didn't reply again, he was quiet for a moment. The anger left and he suddenly sounded tired and sad.

    "Leave."

When she didn't move or take her eyes off Henry, he yelled.

    "JUST LEAVE. LEAVE NOW OR BECOME A SACRIFICE."

Alice snapped out of her daze and finally let her gaze leave the poor man. She slowly brought her eyes up to the intercom and walked cautiously over to the door. When she paused in front of it the Mask man said with sadness.

    "Leave, I don't have time to deal with you or that stupid cartoon music."

She remained quiet as she reached down and pulled the door up. After taking one step outside of the room, she found herself pausing again. She looked back at Henry and found herself lost in a sea of emotions. She heard a chair squeak and some boards creak. The Mask man came into her view and stood beside Henry. She watched him clench his fists and he seemed almost...lost.

    They just stared at each other for a minute, before he moved and walked towards her. Some part of her, she wasn't sure which part, told her to go. Yet, she was paralyzed as he came closer and stopped a step away. He slowly raised his right arm up and grabbed the pull-down string. He matched the exact position he was in before when he trapped in the room. He stared at her, and with his rough voice, he said with a surprisingly gentle tone.

    "You coulda been better than him, Angel."

    In the blink of an eye he brought down the door and all she could do was stare. She didn't know how long she stood there, for time is unknown in this inky abyss. Slowly and mechanically she made her way back. Back to her operation room and back to her prey. She only stopped when she came to a hall that was boarded up. Something quickly dashed away in the darkness and the sounds of a nail rolling across the wood echoed. Any other time she probably would've investigated, but she wasn't feeling too curious at the moment. She wasn't sure what she was feeling.

    Alice took another hall and made her home. Everything from the walls to the sound seemed to blur for her thoughtless mind. She eventually did reach her room and leaned against a wall. She slowly sank down against it as ink started to drip from the ceiling. Pipes started to scream and they were soon joined by actual screaming. Someone's pleas echoed in the blood-stained halls. She closed her eyes and listened to them.

    "I'm telling you, kid, you're gonna go places."

The blurred faced conductor told her. They were sitting in the lunch room together and enjoying each others' company. Her tongue was silent to her as she spoke.

    "Trust me, I gotta a knack for knowing about these things."

His cocky voiced matched perfectly with his body language. He sat back in the chair and reached into his pocket. More mute words flowed out of her mouth and he listened. He pulled out a candy bar and unwrapped it. It seemed to be a chocolate and it was in the shape of Bendy's head. He bit into it and ate off a horn with a full mouth he said,

    "Kid with your voice and my songs we're gonna go places. I'm telling you Angel will be as popular as Bendy one day, heck probably more."

The memory faded away and one last blood-curdling scream echoed to meet her ears. Alice said nothing and thought nothing as she pulled her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself and curled up. His words echoed in her head.

    "I'm telling you, kid, you're gonna go places."

She definitely went somewhere alright to bad it was to this hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please tell me if I should keep writing this.


	7. Mixed up Memories

_Henry stood there by the shelf and was fiddling around with something. Not quite sure why he had called her there, she waited for him to explain._

_"One sec! A little piece of its cloth ripped."_

_She let him continue to fuss over the mysterious object as she looked around. Bendy's and Boris's plushies were crowded on the shelves. All of them were round and somewhat plump versions of the original characters. Although they were still cute and the extra "fat" on them made they nicer to hug. She let Henry finish up his little patch up job while she picked a Borris one and looked at it. She remembered thinking that his little overalls and buttons were adorable._

_"So, uh, What do you think?"_

_She put the little wolf back in his spot and turned back the Henry. He was holding a little angel, an Alice Angel to be exact. She didn't know what to say as he passed her over to him. The little angel had round checks and wasn't as plump as the others, but definitely still chubby. It had soft black fabric for its dress and hair with two little white fabric horns that poked through it._

_"What do you think?"_

_Henry sounded nervous as he waited for his response. He was a little fidgety and seemed to be looking anywhere but her. Whatever her reply was, it made him happy._

_"I knew you would like it."_

_He continued to speak to her but the words started to blur together and they grew quiet. The world began to fade away into the darkness where she could only hear the creaking of birds. An unknown man's ruff voice echoed loudly,_

_"So, when can you start?"_

_An unknown lady's voice replied to him a second later. Even though her it shook with nervousness, you could hear the gentleness and a sort of soft tone to her voice._

_"Well, I can start any time that's good for you, but um...I thought this job was already taken."_

_It was quiet for a few minutes before the man's voice returned._

_"I'm sorry but I think that she's better for the role."_

_A new mysterious woman's voice desperately followed after his. Her throat sounded raw from crying, and like she was going to burst into tears once more._

_"Please, sir. You can't take this from me. I-I"_

Sobbing echoed into the darkness and she felt something drop on her head. As more drops of something continuously fell onto her head, she slowly opened her eye. It was blurry for a few seconds as Alice blinked away the darkness from her sleep. She slowly moved off and away from the wall, she had been leaning against. Soreness became apparent in her back and neck as she stretched. She got off the floor and groaned at the little bit of pain. She looked around the room for a moment until her eyes fell on her patient. The Piper was still lying unconscious on the table, and it occasionally twitches from under its straps.

    "...We really have to do something with him soon."

    "IS THAT SERIOUSLY WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW?"

She just let out a sign.

    "YOU GONNA ANSWER ME?"

    "I don't want to talk right now."

    "ABOUT WHAT, HENRY?"

    "Lets not."

    "OKAY, THAT'S FINE WITH ME."

    "Good."

    "GOOD."

She looked away from the piper and dropped her gaze to the ground.

    "WHICH MEMORIES ARE YOURS?"

     "I thought we weren't going to talk about this."

     "NO, WE WEREN'T GOING TO TALK ABOUT HENRY."

     "Well, I don't want to talk about this either."

     "IT'S THIS OR THE ROPE MAN."

She started walking around uneasily in circles and wrapped her arms around her.

     "What should we do with the Piper?"

     "YOU'RE CHANGING THE SUBJECT."

     "We should probably just go ahead and operate."

     "YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT OF THIS."

She stopped her loops and looked back at her patient.

     "You're right."

     "I'M GLAD YO-"

     "-We should wait till he wakes up. It'll be a better punishment for him."

     "THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M-"

     "I'm glad you agree, it seems like we rarely ever-"

     "-SHUT UP!"

She clamped her mouth closed and stop walking over towards him.

     "JESUS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? USUALLY, YOU'RE THE ONE BUGGING ME FOR A CONVERSATION."

     "Sorry."

     "I SWEAR ALL YOU DO IS APOLOGIZE."

     "I.."

Alice took a deep breath and rubbed her head with her right hand. Around her halo, her head started to pound a little.

     "I'm just not sure what to think. I'm sorry."

The other half became soft for a moment, but only a moment.

     "Stop it, just stop it. You don't have to always apologize to me."

     "Why not?"

    "Because."

    "Because why?"

    "Because I don't deserve it."

     "What?"

     "ANYWAY, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS."

She could feel her reluctance, so she decided to get back to that later.

     "About what exactly."

     "I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS HERE."

     "I didn't expect him to be here, nonetheless, to ever see him again."

     "IT WAS SURPRISING, TO SAY THE LEAST."

     "Heh, I'm still not sure how I feel."

     "YEAH I KNOW I SAID THAT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS, BUT I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT TO SAY."

     "Really, that doesn't sound like you."

She chuckled.

     "AW, SHUT IT. I WAS KINDA HOPING THAT YOU HAD THE ANSWERS OR SOMETHING I GUESS."

     "Sorry, I don't."

     "STOP APOLOGIZING."

     "Sorry."

She rolled her eye at that reply and leaned against a nearby wall. They said nothing to each and closed their eye. Just enjoying the tiny bit of piece they had achieved. However, no comfort stays long in the inky building.

     "I don't know."

They still didn't open their eye.

     "Hmm?"

     "I don't know which memory is mine."

     "NEITHER DO I."

     "What should we do?"

     "I DON'T KNOW."

     "Wanna go back?"

She opened her eye in dread in response.

     "TO THAT FREAKSHOW AND HIS GARAGE DOOR? HECK, NO!"

      "I don't mean there."

      "THANK GOD, I THOUGHT YOUR BRAIN FINALLY SOAKED IN TOO MUCH INK."

      "Funny, but no I was thinking of somewhere else."

      "Where?"

      "Let's go back to the toy shelves."

      "Where we-one of us got the angel plush?"

      "Eyeup."

      "WHY?"

      "Maybe, we'll remember whose memory is whose."

     "I GUESS I WON'T HURT."

A groan caught their attention, and they looked back over at the Piper. Who was starting to twitch more frequently.

    "What should we do about him?"

     "JUST LEAVE HIM, IF HE WAKES UP HE WON'T BE ABLE TO ESCAPE SO."

     "Okay, he should be good then."

     "Let's GO."

Alice left her safety room and the Piper behind. She started her journey down the halls to were the plushies were kept. Where she hopefully could jog her memory and figure it out. Until she reached it though it was just her and her thoughts. Them and their thoughts, she supposed. She smiled to herself.

     "It's nice."

     "WHAT IS?"

     "Nothing."

     "OKAY."

     "Although."

     "ALTHOUGH?"

     "If my brain did soak up too much ink, you know you would've been affected too."

     "WHATEVER."

The other part laughed and they continued onwards down the dripping halls. She could sense the other's happiness and decided to talk about whatever this "nothing" was later. For now, she left it alone as that half started to hum a little song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment!


	8. If We Got Out...

    It sounded like the halls were trying to sing along with her. They creaked and groaned with her steps, and tried to follow her little tune. Although in her opinion, their singing wasn't as nice as hers. Alice was simply making her way towards the toy room. Where she was going to...to figure stuff out. She hoped. For the toy room held one of her's, or the other ones, most recent flashbacks. So, what better way to jog one's memory than by going back to that place. One hummed happily and a little too loud for the other's taste, but she let it slide. As the song came to an end, it opened up a brief pause between that one and her singing it again. The other side took this opportunity.

    "SO, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?"

    "Mmm, Do what?"

    "WHEN WE GET THERE?"

She rubbed her chin in thought.

    "I don't know, we can look around and see if our plushies are still there."

    "I DOUBT IT."

    "Well, it couldn't hurt to look now."

    "I GUESS."

    "Besides,"

She added with a hint of sadness in her voice.

    "It's not like we got anything important to do."

    "WE COULD BE TAKING CARE OF THE PIPER."

    "Is that really the most important thing to you?"

She waited for the other's reply, and when it didn't come immediately she chose to push.

    "Is it?"

    "NO, B-BUT STILL."

    "Still what? You were fine with this a little bit ago. Why are you getting all-I don't even what to call it."

    "...DO YOU KNOW WHAT MEMORIES ARE YOURS?"

    "No, Do you?"

    "I WOULDN'T HAVE ASKED IF I KNEW."

    "Didn't we talk about this earlier?"

    "YES."

    "Well?"

    "WELL, WHAT?"

    "Well, do you want to talk about it."

    "WHAT, NO."

    "Than why did you bring it up again?"

    "SHUT UP. YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DIDN'T WANT TO TALK."

Alice walked out of that hall and was about to turn into another when she was stopped. The hall used to split off into two different ones, however, now one way was open and the other was boarded up. Lucky it wasn't the one she needed to take, but still. Afraid of getting into an argument and having to turn around, she decided to change the subject.

    "That's weird."

She said as she started on her way.

    "THE BOARDS WEREN'T THERE LAST TIME, RIGHT?"

    "No, they weren't. How long do you think it's been like that?"

    "DON'T KNOW. WE HAVEN'T BEEN HERE IN A WHILE NOW. IT COULD'VE BEEN A COUPLE OF DAYS, OR A FEW MONTHS."

    "Umm, We really should find a way to keep track of time."

    "SO WHAT, WE CAN SEE HOW MUCH OF OUR LIVES WE'RE WASTING ROTTING. SMART, WE CAN KEEP OF THAT AND HOW LONG WE'LL BE DEPRESSED FROM IT."

    "Okay, okay I see your point. So, extra."

    "I'M NOT EXTRA."

    "Yeah, and I'm Marilyn Monroe."

    "WHO?"

    "Marilyn Monroe."

    "ONCE AGAIN WHO?"

    "The lady on the radio."

    "NOT HELPING."

Alice rolled her eye.

    "You know when we found those radios."

    "YES, WHAT ABOUT THEM."

    "They were talking about some singer, or was it actress-It doesn't matter. She's some famous doll right now."

    "I GUESS. WHY DO YOU REMEMBER THAT JUNK?"

    "It's not junk-well maybe a little, but I don't see what's wrong with trying to keep up with the world."

    "A WORLD WE'RE NOT APART OF."

    "Well, when we get out you'll see how important it is."

    "SURE I WILL."

    "You will just you wait. We'll get out of her and go see the world.

She slowed down a little and her voice got a soft dreamy tone it. Like that of a child who's making their wish carefully so nothing will ruin it.

    "We'll get a nice house or maybe an apartment. Where we'll make ourselves a home and settle down."

    "LET'S NOT."

    "Why not?"

    "WE'VE BEEN IN ONE PLACE TOO LONG, SO LET'S NOT BE TIED DOWN. WE SHOULD GO ON A TRIP, SEE THE WORLD OR SOMETHING."

    "That sounds nice. We can sometime outside and see everything."

    "WE'RE GOING TO NEED A CAR."

    "A car?"

    "YES, WE CAN DRIVE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY."

    "How wonderful. Perhaps we can get a Cadillac. Won't that be nice, driving around in a Cadillac and listening to music, maybe some from that Marilyn doll."

She cracked out in a teasing snarky tone.

    "IF SHE'S NOT DOING CADILLAC."

    "Yea-Hey!"

She only laughed at the other's reaction, and let her pout. They soon settled into a comfortable silence. Floorboards continued singing and the few lights, that there were, flickered. It took a few minutes of walking and silence to cause one of them to make a move.

    "I WISH YOU WERE THAT MARY GIRL."

She was confused at the other's remark for a minute but just responded to it playfully.

    "Why cause I'd won't be bothering you?"

    "No."

The quiet tone and feeling had come back, and it seemed to be happening a lot more lately, since seeing….Henry. So she stopped playing around and got serious. She had to, to find out what was going on with her, friend? Acquaintance? Body-Sharer? Right now wasn't the time to think about that.

    "Than why?"

    "At least then you'd know who you are."

    "I-I. I'm not sure what to say?"

    "It's okay. It's just-"

She took a moment to think before continuing.

    "No matter how we look at it, one of us is gonna get hurt."

She sadly and quietly replied,

    "We're already hurt aren't we."

    "Yeah, but one of us is gonna be even more hurt."

    "Why do you think that?"

    "One of us is the one who got crushed."

    "Getting fired happens."

    "It does, but nothing like this happens. One of us got fired so the other one could take her place."

    "I know."

    "So, if we get our memories back and we figure out who's who, what's gonna happen?"

She let out a sigh.

    "I don't know."

    "Neither do I."

    "Let's worry about crossing when we get to that bridge."

    "Really, You just want to leave at that?"

    "I don't have anything else to say on the matter."

    "Or you trying to avoid the subject?"

    "I anyone here tries to avoid subjects it's you."

    "HEY! FOR YOUR INFORMATION, THE IDIOT THAT ALWAYS TRIES TO AVOID THE SUBJECT IS YOU!"

    "No, I don't!"

    "YEAH, YOU DO! YOU WON'T TALK ABOUT STUFF EARLIER, AND YOU ALWAYS SAY 'OH IT'S NOTHING'. WHAT ABOUT THAT HUH?"

    "Hey, it's not like that."

    "THAN WHAT IS IT LIKE?"

    "It's-It's like...nothing."

    "SEE!"

    "Oh just leave it alone!"

    "NO CAN DO! NOT UNTIL YOU ADMIT-"

Alice was cut off by the loud slam of a board hitting the floor. She froze and her full attention went to a darkened area of the hallway ahead. Something moved in the darkness and her breath was caught in her throat.  _Whaaaat?_ She quickly scanned the hall's sides to see the thing was getting any closer to her.

    In the midst of this, she spotted the shape outline of was seemed to be a light switch. In the darkness, the thing moved again making it a blur.  _Let's get out of here._ She started to take a step back only to stop before completing it. Instead, she stepped forward.  _What are you doing? WE NEED TO TURN ON THE SWITCH. We need to get out of here._ The other side won't listen though and took another stepped deeper into the darkness. Both sides fought against each other until she struggled to finally have her finger touch the switch and turn it on.

    The lights flickered for a moment and Alice quickly closed her eye in fear. When nothing happened though she opened it. Her jaw dropped down and she just stared at it in disbelief.  _IS THAT A-it is._ Some boards were already hammered to a wall and a few nails were on the floor. The board that had fallen was shaking and making sounds. Well, the board itself wasn't doing that, rather the thing below it was. Being held down by the board it made little squeals of panic and protest while struggling. Under that board was an angel. An Alice Angel plush to be exact. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you like the new little character joining us.
> 
> (As for the Cadillac thing, BATIM takes place sometime in the 1950s-1960s since the cartoon style is based on the style of the 1920s-1930s. In the 1930's Cadillac actually meant two things: It was a car title and it was an ounce of cocaine or heroin.


	9. That's a Horrible Name

    "OH, MY GOD!"

    "It's so cute!"

Alice stared at the little plush angel, that was squirming, under the board. The little thing just responded by letting out little squeals of panic and squirmed as fast as it could. She watched it's struggling and tried to figure out what to do. One side was confused and the other one wanted to squee at it.

    "Aren't you just the cutest little thing?"

The plush kept ignoring her and continued struggling. She walked over to it and watched it panic more when she did. Alice stopped a few steps away from and thought about what to do.

_The poor thing is stuck. POOR THING DEFINITELY, WE'RE PROBABLY SCARING THE HECK OUT OF IT. We're not that scary. YEAH, WE'RE JUST SOMEONE WITH A DEFORMED FACE TOWERING OVER IT. NOTHING SCARY THERE. Okay, I see your point. But that's even more of a reason for us to help it. If it sees that we're nice, then maybe it won't be scared of us anymore. LET'S NOT. What! Why, not? I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS THING IS AND NEITHER DO YOU. WE'RE BETTER OFF LEAVING IT ALONE. We know what it is, is an adorable little angel. Like us._

She rolled her eye at that comment.

 _GOD, LET'S JUST GO. No, we need to help it. WELL, I-Look at its poor little helpless face and tell me you can walk away from it._ The plush had finally stopped struggling and had covered its head with its hands. Its chubby cheeks had little tear stains on it and it miserably sniffled. She stared at it for a minute.

    "TO HECK WITH IT."

    "Yay!"

Alice closed the space between her and the plush. She slowly sat down on the floor, to make herself less intimidating, and reached towards it. The angel shivered more in fever as her hands grew closer. She carefully grabbed the board and lifted it off the plush, before setting it somewhere else on the ground. The plush, itself, still kept its head covered and didn't look at her.  _Poor thing, What should we do? I DON'T KNOW WE ALREADY FREED IT. WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO? Oh, I know!_

    She started to hum her song that's word were lost and did nothing else. The little angel peaked out from under its hands and looked at her. As the song continued on, it seemed to grow more comfortable. It stopped covering its head and had sat up. It didn't say a word, it just listened to her song and watched her. When the song came to an end, neither one of them moved.  _I knew that would work. HOW? If she's an angel like us, then she must love music. I GUESS._

The plush titled it's head at her and simply stared. She looked at for a second, before speaking in a soft tone.

    "Hello there."

It didn't say anything.

    "Don't have anything to say."

Still silence.

    "Or maybe you just can't talk."

Nothing.

    "Okay, Welllllllllllllllllllllllllll."

It cut her off with a cute little squeak.

    "Oh my god, that's adorable."

It stood up and squeaked again.

    "That's it, we're keeping you."

    "WHAT?"

    "Yes, we are."

Alice reached down and picked up the little angel in her hands. It squeaked in protest all the while. She set it down on her lap and gently rubbed its halo and head. Its yells stopped and after a second it let out a sound that was similar to a cat's purr.

    "You like that, well I don't blame you. The halo gives me a killer headache too."

Its only response was to push its head harder into her hand.

    "What should we name you?"

    "WE'RE NOT NAMING IT ANYTHING."

    "Why, not?"

    "CAUSE WE'RE NOT KEEPING IT. IT'S NOT A PET YOU KNOW."

    "It acts like one, and it's all helpless like one."

    "THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS ONE, CHRIST."

    "I would name it Alice or Angel, but that's our name so no."

    "YOU'RE CHANGING THE SUBJECT."

    "WE'RE NOT KEEPING IT YOU HEAR."

    "What do you think of the name Angela?"

    "I'M NOT-WAIT ISN'T THAT JUST ANGEL WITH AN A ON THE END."

    "Eyeup."

    "NO."

    "Okay, I have the perfect name then. Since it's just us but smaller and, I hate to admit it but, cuter. I know the perfect name."

    "I'M AFRAID TO ASK."

    "Alice Jr!"

The pause she got in return was one she knew quite well.

    "OH MY GOD, THAT IS THE STUPIDEST NAME I'VE EVER HEARD."

    "It's not that bad."

    "AND I THOUGHT ANGELA WAS THE LAZIEST YOU COULD GET."

    "...Alice Jr it is."

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

    "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees."

    "THAT'S A HORRIBLE NAME."

She ignored her counterpart and focused on the plush again. Who seemed to not care about what they were talking about, and was just enjoying the petting.

    "What do you think, Alice Jr?"

It just let a little sound of joy and continued to enjoy the attention.

    "See, Alice Jr it is."

    "IT'S NOT HAPPY BECAUSE, OF THE STUPID NAME, IT'S FROM THE PETTING YOU IDIOT."

She let out a gasp and used both her hands to cover the plush's ears. Well, where the ears would be on it.

    "Hush, I don't want Jr to copy your attitude."

    "THAT'S WHAT-UGGGGGG. YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE."

She let out a huff and the other side tried not to laugh. She rubbed Alice Jr's head for a minute or two more before stopping and getting up. She held it in her arms like a child does with a cat or dog.

    "We're going to the toy room. What do you think about that?"

Jr's painted eyebrows furrowed for a second in thought but quickly sprang back up and she let out a happy squeak and smile.

    "I'd hope that you'd like it."

Alice continued on her way to the room and hummed. She smiled to herself looking at the little plush who was staying quiet and still while being carried.  _So cute! WHY ARE WE BRINGING IT WITH US? We can't leave Jr here alone. STOP CALLING IT THAT STUPID NAME. How about you stop being a grump. UGH, ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS THING CAN DO. Are you seriously worried about a 9in plush toy? BY ITSELF, NO, BUT FOR ALL WE KNOW IT COULD HAVE ARMY OR SOMETHING._

    She laughed out loud at that and went back to her song afterward. The halls creaked like usually and the lights flickered.  _Seriously an army, they don't have an army. Jeez, I didn't realize how paranoid you are. I'M NOT PARANOID, I'M JUST CONCERNED. You weren't that concerned when you wanted to follow that Bendy mask guy. HEY, AT LEAST THERE WAS SOMETHING TO GAIN. Yeah, we almost got us made into a sacrifice and we saw our former boss. IT...WELL...LOOK THAT'S EXACTLY THE REASON WHY WE NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL NOW. I can agree with being careful, but not being paranoid._

    She let out a groan at that.  _LOOK, IF THERE ARE MORE PLUSHES HERE THAN THAT MEANS THAT THERE'S A CHANCE THAT THERE ALIVE. Great_.  _GREAT? WHY IS THAT GREAT? Jr can have a friend._   _SERIOUSLY_. Alice came around the hall's turn and saw the toy room's door. Alice Jr squeaked in happiness and squirmed a little in impatience.

    "Someone's excited."

She walked to the door and started to open it.  _I'm just saying I don't think we have anything to worry about, that's all._ When the door was fully opened, she didn't move. A flabbergasted look passed across her face as she simply stood and stared. The room shelves and floor held around 100 of them. A hundred of Alice Angel plushies that all turned to look at them and no one moved. Alice Jr, on the other hand, simply squealed again and threw its hands up.

    "...AND YOU SAID THEY DIDN'T' HAVE AN ARMY."

    "Alice."

    "YEAH."

    "We're going to need more names that start with A."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! If anyone has any names that start with an A for these guys I'd love to hear them. All names suggested will be included.


	10. An Army of A's

    It was uncomfortably quiet as the staring contest continued. All of the hundred plushes stood still on their shelves and Alice stared back from the doorway.  _OKAY, DON'T MAKE A SOUND. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS SET THE PLUSH DOWN AND BACK OUT OF THE ROOM. JUST-_

    "If you guys are an army than you are by far the cutest one there is."

She had to fight not to facepalm at the other side's words. The plushies all started to whisper little squeaks to each other while keeping their eyes on her. The whole room became bustling with the whispers and a sense of suspension and panic seemed to be coming over them.  _YOU JUST HAD TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH DIDN'T YOU._

    As the panic from them seemed to be spreading from shelf to shelf, Alice Jr started to squirm. It wiggled around in her arms and squeaked to get attention. It gathered Alice's and some plushies nearby's.

    "What's the matter Jr?"

She carefully set the tiny angel down only for it to squeak very clearly upset in response. It grabbed onto her leg and squeaked more in haste. She bent down to get closer to the clingy little thing. It squeaked up at her in response. Not knowing exactly what it wanted Alice just started petting its head again. That seemed to be what it wanted for it stopped squeaking and calmed down.  _STOP PETTING IT. WE NEED TO LEAVE BEFORE THINGS GET TO CRAZY. Things are already crazy._

    It was then Alice noticed a few of the other plushes had moved closer to her. The four of them stood about a footway and we're watching her rub Jr's head. The others' whispers still filled the room around them. One of them looked at its friends before stepping forward. It slowly and cautiously got closer to Alice Jr.

    "Aw, Do you want some attention too?"

    She reached out and touched its head. It flinched at the sudden contact but relaxed after its hair started to get ruffled. Soon, happy sounds were coming from both of them and the others drew a little closer.

    "Okay, so we have Alice Jr and now this cute little thing as well. Should we name her Angelia?"

    "WE'RE NOT NAMING ANYMORE OF THEM. WE NEED TO LEAVE."

The plushies came closer and she patted their heads as well.

    "Your name will be Angelia, and you,"

She pointed to another plush.

    "You'll be Alex."

She pointed to another plush to her left.

    "You can be Autumn."

She looked at the last one she was petting.

    "And you'll be….What other A names do you know?"

    "STOP NAMING THEM."

    "Fine, be like that."

She patted the nameless one's head some more.

    "I got it! You can be Aurora."

She petted Angelia's head again and noticed how quiet everything was. She looked up from the little group and noticed all of the angels had stopped talking. All of them stared at her and she felt a little uncomfortable under their gazes. It was then she noticed that their eyes were painted and gave them a dead blank stare. Feeling all of the eyes on her, she grew a bit nervous as well.  _I TOLD YOU THAT WE SHOULD LEAVE, BUT NOOOOOOOOOOO. WE HAD TO STAY AND PET THESE THINGS. It's not that bad, I mean it's like they can hurt us anyway. There's so tiny. THEY MAY BE TINY, BUT THERE'S ONE OF US AND A HUNDRED OF THEM._

    She gulped at the thought of being overwhelmed by them and being attacked. Of them crawling over her and dragging her back into the darkness, the darkness she had worked so far to avoid.  _STARTING TO GET THE PICTURE._ She stopped petting Alice Jr and slowly stood up. She chuckled nervously at their many blank eyes.  _Okay, we should go. FINALLY._ She slowly reached over to grab the door handle to close the door behind her, when one grabbed her leg. Then another, all five of the named ones grabbed her and held on tight.  _Oh, god. Oh god. IT'S OFFICIAL WE'RE SCREWED._

    She watched an Angel on a high shelf stand up from it's sitting position and start, in its own squeaky language, barking orders. The ones that were holding onto Alice's legs let out begrudging squeaks and one by one let go. Except for Alice Jr, who didn't say a word and instead tightened its grip. The little leader angel grew upset and angrily squealed something. Angelia, Alex, Aurora, and Autumn all looked at each other with a regret. They all let our little signs before grabbing Jr and trying to pry it off Alice's leg.

    Jr was not the least bit happy with that and let out horrid cries of protest. Leaving Alice completely torn. Both parts wanted to leave. But to do that would involve letting the plushies get the angel off of her. She could just go back to her room and focus on finding more swollen one's ink and be done with all of this. Yet one little part of her, that she didn't know belonged to who didn't like the thought of the others being mean to the tiny little thing. Perhaps it was because somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered feeling helpless and picked on. Maybe that happened to her, maybe it didn't, but whatever the reason she decided she didn't like it. So without giving it much thought, she reached down and scooped the plush up again.

    The room was filled with many surprised squeaks and the leader looked slightly appalled at the action. As it opened its mouth to yell something else, it was cut off by Alice Jr's quick desperate shouts. While it yelled something it pointed over to the corner of the room. Alice glanced over at it to notice a pile of boards and nails all over the floor. A hammer laid near it as well.  _WHY IS THAT HERE? Don't know...Do you think they're the ones putting up the boards in the halls? MAYBE, I GUESS IF ENOUGH OF THEM WORKED TOGETHER THAN THEY COULD. I wonder why they do it? If they are of course._

    Jr then took its hands and raised them up to the sides of its head. It let out a growl and made an angry face while giving itself devil horns, well adding onto its horns. All of the other Angel plushies back away in fear and let out slight squeaks of panic.  _I THINK WE JUST GOT OUR ANSWER. The poor things are scared of Bendy. CAN'T BLAME THEM._ Jr then pointed up towards Alice and made some growls and scary expressions. Then went make back to making the devil horns, but this time showed her face in fear.

    The other angels looked interested in what the angel had said and they all looked at each other and whispered once more.  _What's going on? I DON'T KNOW, BUT WHATEVER IT IS IT NOW INVOLVES US._ A loud yell came from the leader plush again and all the others quieted down, but some still whispered.  _HARSH RULER, HUH. She's just as bossy as you._ It stared at Alice and looked up and down her for a minute. It then made its way down the shelf and onto the floor. All of the plushes moved out of the way for it and let it through.

    It stopped in front of Alice for a second and looked up at her. It narrowed its eyes at her before swiftly turning around and let out a little squeak. The name ones seemed to rejoice and let out a bunch of happy squeals. Some plushes looked unsure and stayed on their shelves, while others quickly moved off theirs to join the others on the floor. Before Alice knew what was happening she surrounded by little squealing angels. Some grabbed onto her leg and pulled her forward more into the room. They shut the door and some of them just circled around her curiously.

    "Well, they don't seem to want us dead so that's a good start."

    "I CAN AGREE WITH YOU THERE, BUT WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO, NOW?"

    "We start thinking of more A names, I guess."

    "SERIOUSLY."

All of the plushes loudly chatted and watched her.

    "We clearly can't leave right this second and we gotta do something to pass the time until we know what's going on."

    "FINE."

Alice started pointing around the room from plush to plush naming some while she went.

    "You can be Amanda. And you'll be Alma. Oh, you'll be Alanna."

It was then Alice noticed two plushies standing on the floor. Or would you count them as one plushy? It was two almost completely done Angels however, they were connected at by one's left and the other's right arm.

    "Well, aren't you something."

She sat Alice Jr back on the ground, much to its unhappiness, and reached over to pick up the two connected ones. They squealed a little in surprise at that. She carefully held them and petted their heads. The one on the left squealed happily at the attention, while the one on the right seemed grumpy. Alice laughed at that.

    "Well aren't you two just opposites huh."

The left one squealed excitedly and the right one huffed.

    "Okay, then. Since your all happy and warm your name can be April. As for you since you're all grumpy and a little cold you can be August."

She set them back down and April squeaked in happiness. August just stayed the same and huffed once more while looking away from Alice.

    "RUDE MUCH."

    "Ah, she'll grow out of it...I hope."

Alice Jr yelled again and grabbed onto Alice's leg. She patted its head and it let out a happy sigh. A few plushies must have figured out that whatever the head patting action was, it was nice. For while she was bending down and rubbing Jr's head, two of them drew closer and yelled at her for attention.

     "Hello!"

She ruffled their hair and they squeak.

    "You can be Amelia. Your name will be Anna."

    "ARE YOU GONNA BE NAMING ALL OF THEM?"

    "Yes."

The next twenty minutes was nothing but Alice spitting out A name after A name. She started at the top and went down left to right on every shelf. When she was done, she took a deep breath and prepared herself.

    "Okay, so let's go over this."

Each plush let a squeak in response to their name.

    "We have Abella, Annabelle, Ailis, Angelina, Annie, Andrea, Abigail, Alaya, Adriana, Allison, Amori, Agatha, Allohi, Ammy, Aileen, Aiko, Alexis, Ali, Agnes, Arianna, Allaire, Ava, Amber, Alicia, Ainne, Aleeza, Ailla, Abby, Aline, Ailis, Adelynn, Aline, Ariel, Ailish, Amilyn, Alexandra, Akira, Aina, Aura, Auburn, Assyria, Amygdala, Acedia, Aria, Alyssa, and Adela."

She took a deep breath in to catch it.  _GOD, THAT'S A LOT OF A's. No kidding._ Alice let out a sigh and looked around, there was still two shelves of angels left.  _I don't think I have any names left. SAME FOR MY PATIENCE. WHY THE HECK ARE YOU NAMING THEM ANYWAY? THERE'S NO WAY TO EVEN TELL THEM APART. Well, the names will help. SURE, YEAH. LOOK WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO WASTE ANYMORE, LET'S GO. No! We can't, we haven't named all of them yet. WHO CARES LET'S GO._

    She turned her body towards the door, but couldn't move. The other side refused to let them walk away and leave.  _We can't we-we have to name them. WHY DO YOU CA-Because it's important. WHY! It's...It's nothing._ She stopped fighting her and took a step forward for them. Now, she should've just kept walking before the other one put up a fight again. But as their shoulders sagged and she could feel the other's unhappiness she shouldn't bring herself to move anymore.

 _WHY? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? It's nothing okay, let's just go._ She let out a tired breath and turned around towards the plush angels. They looked at her with confusion on their faces at her actions.  _LOOK, LET'S JUST FINISH NAMING THESE IDIOTS AND GO…...Really. YEAH, HURRY UP THOUGH._

  "Yay!"

 Some plushes yelled as well at her sudden happiness and others just raised their eyebrows. She glanced around the room quickly.  _Who should we name next? MAYBE MISS AUTHORITY._ On the top of one of the shelves was four other plushies. One of them was the leader plushie, and Alice made her way towards her. When she got closer she realized a few things.  _Oh. I GUESS THESE ARE THE DEFECTIVE ONES. Don't call them that, they're just special._

   One of the plushies was must have found itself in some bleach. For it had everything but was pure white. Light gray lines made up its face. The plush beside it was smaller than the others by one or two inches, because of that its dress was too long and it looked like it might trip over it any second now. Another plush was the right height but was a mix of black and gray clothes for its hair and dress. It must have been an early prototype. The leader plush wasn't normal either, now that she got closer to it. It was missing its halo and its left horn. It narrowed its eyes at her and crossed its arms. The others looked at her curiously.

   "Hello, there."

The leader huffed and turned away.  _THAT LITTLE BRAT_! She didn't show her irritation though and kept her voice sweet.

   "Aren't you guys something."

The small one tilted its head at her.

   "Aww, you're so small and cute! You're gonna be….Acorn."

 _ACORN?_ The little thing seemed to accept this though and gave a little smile in return. The leader peaked over its shoulder but quickly looked away. The white angel stepped closer and tilted its head as well.

   "Huh, well you remind me of snow. Sooooooooo Arctica."

 _WHAT._ The plush just nodded its head in response. The leader turned around completely at looked at its friend and then at her. It gave her a grumpy pout.

    "Are you jealous? Do you want a name too?"

It quickly huffed and turned it's head away. But gave her the honor of keeping eye contact.  _She's jealous. HEY. What? YOU NAMED THE REST OF THEM, MIND IF I NAME THIS ONE. Really, you want to! YEAH. I knew you'd come around. You can name her whatever you want What's her name?_

    "YOUR NAME WILL BE ARMY."

_What? ARMY, DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? No, I did I was just making sure. What kind of name is that? YOU SAID I COULD NAME HER WHATEVER I WANT. I thought you'd actually give her a real name. LAST TIME I CHECKED ACORN AND ARCTICA WEREN'T REAL PEOPLE NAMES. Well, that's-it's. SEE HER NAME IS ARMY BECAUSE SHE COMMANDS THESE MIDGETS. But that-Are you doing this to annoy me? THAT MIGHT BE PART OF THE REASON. Uggggh. Can't its name be Amy or something? NOPE, BESIDES, WE ALREADY HAVE AN AMY. I guess. Hey, wait! Aww, you were paying attention to my names. SHUT UP._

    At that moment some music started playing and she turned to look behind her. A little music player was connected to some screens. All of them had her cartoony face on it and the song just seemed to be starting up.  _Hey, it's one of our songs. YEAH, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME._ She was about to make her way over towards the nearest screen when desperate squeaks rang out. Alice looked back at the top shelf to see the little-mixed pattern one was making all the noises.

    "Oh, sorry. Don't worry you're not forgotten bud. Your name will beeeeeeeee Alice the second."

It squeaked in approval.  _ALICE THE SECOND? I can't think of any more names, better start with the seconds for the next shelves._ All of a sudden loud squeals grew louder and louder along with little footsteps. Army barked out something and the plushies turned off the screens. Through a hole in the wall, another little angel ran in. Fear covered its face and filled its desperate yells. Every plush flew into a blind panic as they ran to their shelves. They pulled themselves up onto them and help others as well.

    They were loud and screaming. However, their yells weren't what caught Alice's attention. A familiar weird thumping echoed down the hall into the room. As it grew closer it became clearer and turned into footsteps. Something was coming and whatever it was, it had sent the tiny angels into a panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and as for all the A names...I received no comments or help with them...I just had way too much free time. Please leave a comment, they let me know that someone is reading this and that I should keep going.


	11. A Scary Showtime

    The panic screeches continued from the plushies as they moved quickly and with fear. Shelves became chaotic and crammed with any one of them just trying to hide. Small pushing and pulling fights broke out. Each started because they wanted on the nearest shelf and those already there refused to give up their safety. Alice watched the chaos unfold but didn't panic, at least not on the outside.  _Oh, god. Bendy's here! I DON'T THINK IT'S BENDY._ She looked up at the ceiling and at the doorway.  _THERE'S NO FLOODING INK, SO. Okay, good point. But if it's not Bendy than what is it? LET'S NOT FIND OUT._

    She looked around the room quickly and spotted the corner of the music and video controller. It was inside a little recording room that seemed to be an add-on to the toy section. She looked around and found it's door on the left wall. The sound of footsteps echoed and a loud click from a far off lever came with it. She made way over there all the while being careful not to step on the scrambling angels. Their shrieks of fear filled the room to which Army was attempting to stop. Alice somehow made it to the door without squishing any of them and tried to open it. The knob was stiff and hard to turn but it gave in.

    A loud creak came from it and she looked around inside. There were a small chair and an old rusted recorder. A gray box was along the wall hidden from the view of the outside. It's lights flicker and when it did so did the TVs. Something about this place was familiar but she couldn't quite place it. Shaking her head out of those thoughts, she reached back and was about to close the door when desperate yells came. Shoving through the crowd Alice Jr made its way over and ran into the room as well. Other plushies, who were trying to hide, followed behind it. Resulting in around ten or fifteen angels getting inside with her.

    They huddled together and shivered in the corner. Their cries quieted down to small whimpers and all stayed still. The creatures footsteps echoed once more. She stopped looking out and dunked down out of view from the window. The plushies quickly huddled close to her and she watched them shake with fear.

 _We have to do something. WHAT. Look at them, their helpless against whatever's out there. WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO? I don't know, but we have to help them somehow. We might be okay in here, but all those little guys out there only have each other. YOU THINK THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE BOARDS IN HERE. TO BLOCK THINGS FROM COMING TO GET THEM. Yeah, they need something to protect them._ She reached out a rumped Alice Jr's shaking head. The others pressed even closer to find a sense of comfort.

 _WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS? It can't be Bendy, so maybe it's the camera head guy? THE PROJECTIONIST, I DON'T THINK SO. WHAT WOULD HE BE DOING UP HERE? Good point, he rarely leaves his ruins and even then it's usually back to an old workroom to sit. SO THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE IT'S NOT HIM AND NOT BENDY, SO WHO DOES THAT LEAVE US WITH? There's always the butcher gang. THOSE GUYS HAVE BEEN DOUBLING LATELY. Not mention it seems they're everywhere now._ The footsteps sounded like they were growing closer.

 _OKAY SO LET'S SAY IT IS THE BUTCHER GANG, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? We could...scare them. SCARE THEM? Just about everyone down here fears us, and Bendy. If we like to jump out or something, I'm sure that'll be enough to do it. At least I hope so, I really don't want to fight. IF THEY DO ATTACK US, THERE ARE SOME BOARDS IN THE CORNER. WE CAN THE LITTLE BRAINS THEY HAVE IN. That sounds horrible. WE'VE DONE IT BEFORE._ Boards loudly yelled and their screams grew louder and louder.

 _How should we scare them? WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME? You're the scary mad one out of us. NORMALLY I WOULD ARGUE WITH YOU, BUT WE DON'T TIME FOR THAT._ Alice scanned the room and her eyes fell on the gray box with lights. Beside it, two light switches were on the wall. She gently pushed the plushes away from her and got onto her knees. They stared at her confused and frightened.

    "JR, I NEED YOUR HELP."

It gave her a look and tilted its head.

    "DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PUT ON THE MUSIC?"

She pointed to the gray box, and it looked over it for a second before nodding yes again.

    "GREAT, I NEED YOU TO GO OVER THERE AND GET ON TOP OF IT. GOT IT."

It shivered and quickly shook its head no. To which the other side quickly reassured it.

    "Jr, Look you can't see the box that well from the other side of the wall okay. The monster won't be able to see you."

    "ALL I NEED YOU TO DO, IS WHEN THE DOOR OPENS IS TO TURN OFF THE LIGHTS IN THE MAIN ROOM. THEN I NEED YOU TO TURN ON THE MUSIC AGAIN."

It looked downwards and pulled on its dress nervously.

    "I know this sounds really crazy, but I need you to do this. Don't you want your friends to be safe?"

It fidgeted for a second more as the boards' scream grew menacingly closer and louder. Finally, Jr took a deep breath and slowly made its way to the box. It climbed up on it and shook with fright standing on top. Alice gave it a smile and pushed the other angels farther away from her and into a corner. One last groan came from the door outside, and the sound of the squeaking door hinges working rang out. All of the plushies in the room with her froze and looked lifeless. Hopefully, the others in the other one were doing the same.

    The footsteps were the only sound for a second as the creature moved around slowly. Alice took a deep breath as Jr clicked off the lights and turned the music back on. Her theme song rang out and echoed in the hollow room.  _You ready?_ As the creature paused for a second before stepping closer towards the little booth. Alice got herself into a better position.  _READY AS I'LL EVER BE._ Once its steps stopped, she jumped off the floor and slammed her fists against the glass. Drawing forth a scream that shook the room and strained her throat.

    "I'M ALICE ANGEL!"

The creature in the darkness jumped and stepped back. And drawing forth even more strength she slammed her hands against the glass. The sudden force against it shook the booth. The glass shattered at her hands and she felt pain spike before being drowned out in adrenaline. That wasn't the only thing affected though, she sudden force must have knocked something loose. The lights all went out and covered them in darkness.

    Alice stood in front of the now broken window and stared off ahead into the dark abyss. In those few seconds of rage, she had seen it. Seen the creature's shape.  _Henry._ How he had escaped the Bendy follower she didn't know. Whose screams had filled the halls she didn't know either. What she did know was that he was here now, and in her domain. And like all the others there was a thing that controlled everyone down here. The thing she had seen a flash of in his eyes as he froze up and became paralyzed, fear.

    "HAHA, I SEE YOU THERE. A NEW FLY IN MY ENDLESS WEB."

_HEY! Yeah. I THINK WE JUST FOUND WHAT WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE._

    "Come along now."

    "LET'S SEE IF YOU'RE WORTHY TO WALK WITH ANGELS."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys, we've finally reached Alice's 1st main chapter! Let's go!


	12. A Scary Surprise

    Alice ducked down under the window's view and stayed quiet. The room's lights flickered back on, whether it was because of Jr or just the faulty wiring, she didn't know. What she did know is that Henry didn't stay there along. His footsteps made the boards scream as he ran across them to escape. The door shut behind him and it seemed to shake the room's walls.

    She sat there and didn't move for a little longer. Listening to his footsteps getting farther and farther away as his incoherent words echoed as well. Only when she couldn't hear him anymore did she let herself breathe. She opened her eyes and looked around the booth, the plushies were gone from the corner and it was quiet.

    She slowly and cautiously rose from the floor and looked out the window. With no danger in sight, she opened the door and walked out into the room. She was uneasy at the sight that awaited her. All of the shelves were empty and the room seemed so much bigger and creepy with them gone.  _THEY MUST HAVE FLED IN FEAR. Yeah, the question is from what? Henry..OR US._

    She shook her head a little and wrapped her arms around herself. This wasn't the time to be dwelling on things. She needed to get back to her safe haven and figure out what to do about the guy. So, she tried to shake off any fear and unsettlement that she had as she made her way back. However, now that she knew he was alive she couldn't stop being nervous or frightened. Every creak of every board made her freeze or flinch, never sure if it was the building or him. He was here and he was running around doing who knows what.

    "GOD, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"

    "I don't know."

She ran her hands down her face for a minute in exasperation.

    "UGGGGG."

    "You said it."

    "I MEAN HOW THE HECK DID HE EVEN END UP HERE?"

    "He probably was the big thing that crashed through the ceiling."

    "I KNOW THAT. I'M TALKING ABOUT WHY HE'S HERE?"

    "Don't know. Do you think he just got curious and came down?"

    "I DON'T THINK BEING CURIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING COULD EVER GET SOMEONE TO COME DOWN TO SUCH A CREEPY PLACE."

    "I don't know, our curiosity sure took us to some strange places."

She faced palmed at the other.

    "THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

    "Sorry."

    "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO-AH JUST FORGET IT."

    "...Sorry."

    "SHUT UP."

Sensing the bad mood from the other she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she glanced around at nervously at every little sound as they made their way. The halls yelled the usual loud screams. However soon the screams of old gears grinding along with scratches from rusty metal. Whatever Henry was up too, it sure didn't sound good. She just tried to swallow the unsettledness and ignore it.

    The rest of the trip back was filled with too much tension and silence. Finally reaching her operating room, she hurried inside and barricaded the door. Double checking the lock, she leaned against it and slid down onto the floor. She rubbed her head to soothe a small pounding that was just beginning. Taking in few extra breathes she brought her knees up and rested her arms on them.

    "What are going to do?"

    "I DON'T KNOW."

They didn't talk for a few more minutes. Alice just sat there and listened to building yelling and the little splats of ink droplets. It was at moments like this that the building's size seemed to become unbearably unnoticeable. The walls were too long and reached into uncomfortable darkness. The rooms and hall were too busted and old to ever be charming or comfortable in this world. Not to mention that the place was like a prison that was overly crowded with sociopaths in areas. A prison that's bars and walls cut everyone off from ever going home. She was about to groan when someone else's reached her ears.

    She lifted her head up a little from her knees and peeked out towards the sound. From where she was sitting she could see the side and edge of the operating table. The Piper groaned again and its limbs twitched. She couldn't tell if its eyes were open or not, so that led her to reach two conclusions. Either it was awake but still out of it, or it was trapped between the realms of consciousness and unconsciousness. Where things blended so much that you couldn't tell if you were dreaming or not.

    Perhaps he was dreaming or remembering something, maybe not. Maybe he was awake and just getting his bearings. Whatever was happening to him, she couldn't keep leaving him on that table. Signing with a mixture of annoyance and tiredness she slowly and stiffly got to her feet. A few boards yelled as she walked over towards it as if they could warn it of its fate. Alice didn't look at its face as she passed it and went behind the table. Many little gears were attacked near the bottom of its stand. All of them touching a big, when compared to the others, gear in the center.

    She moved her hands on top of the big gear and put a little pressure on it to see if it would move. When it didn't budge, she rose up and walked over to crate she had the corner. Over time Alice had found many tools and interesting things she had decided to keep. With no shelves around, she had dragged an empty crate from a hallway inside and used it to store her things. She pulled out her ink tool and set it on the floor beside her. She dug through some extra gears, a few old Bendy cartoon posters with her on it, of course, electric tape, and little knick-knacks she had found.  _Where is-Ah got it._

    She pulled the crank out of the crate and grabbed an empty soup can. She walked over to the table and stuck the crank into the gears side before making her way, and having to undo her locks, out to the ink pond. She looked around cautiously and stepped closer to the ink pool. The heads of the other creatures bobbed around inside and every Boris was still tied to their chairs. She quickly filled the can with the ink, that either came from the ceiling above or from their bodies.

    She was careful not to spill it as she turned around and headed back to her room and to the table. She poured it over all the gears to grease them up and grabbed onto the crank. It was stuck hard to turn at the beginning but the gears gave in and started to work. The gears span against each other and turned the table forward until it was almost straight up. She stopping turning it then and pulled the crank out with a satisfying pop. The Piper was still strapped in and making groans at the sudden movement. The table was upright and leaned giving her patient the impression of it standing on its own.

    Alice continued on not giving it much attention though. She put her crank back in the crate and threw in the things she had taken out earlier, except for the electric tape and her ink weapon tool thing. She still wasn't sure what to call it. She left that out on the floor but took the tape with her. From the right corner of her room to behind the table ran long tubes. They resembled the ink tubes from the halls but were still very different. They were much smaller, around the thickness of pencils, and were filled with wires.

    She firstly located the plug-in slots for them on the table's back and peeled off the remaining tape around the holes' edges. When most of it was removed and good enough for her, she stuck the two tubes in. Than covered stuck them in there with a new layer of tape. The Piper started to twitch more now.  _Let's just get this over with._ She walked over to a wooden podium that stood in the middle of her room.

    Alice brushed off some dust from the control panel on top of it. Dust gathered fairly quickly down there. Decaying and broken boards had to leave some trace behind, besides being little traps if you got your foot caught in it. Before she could even flip the on the switch and begin the torment, a horribly unsettling sound stopped her though. She stiffed up immediately and looked at her closed door.

    However, her attention was quickly drawn to the ceiling above her head. The lights flickered a little and some ink dripped down from it. The sound echoed once more. It was of quick light steps, like those of rat but it was definitely bigger than one. It was too light to be an ink creature or Bendy's. The unknown source's steps sound grew louder and more frequent.

 _Oh, God._ The ceiling's boards creaked as it travels around above her. With nothing in sight, she grew unsettled. It was then she realized something even more messed up, it stopped moving. A hole in the ceiling dripped out a little ink and all of a sudden an ink blob fell through it. It hit the floor with a sickening splat and she jumped back at it.

    It made a puddle on the floor but still was a glob of ink remaining in the center. It bubbled and squirmed, making Alice's spine shiver.  _ARE YOU SERIOUS? Oh God, what the heck is this thing?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Toon in next time for Alice to figure out what the heck the blob is and probably freak out more.


	13. A Friend Drops In

    Alice was paralyzed as she stared down at the moving ink glob. It stopped squirming for a second before twitching again.  _Oh god. What is it? DON'T KNOW AND DON'T CARE, WHATEVER IT IS WE NEED TO GET RID OF IT._ Not taking her eyes off of the blob, she slowly backed away. It squirmed a little more and flopped over on its side to which it stopped moving. Backing herself into the corner and towards the crate, Alice slowly bent down. Picking up her ink abstracting tool she rose up with it.

    After it's minute rest the blob started squirming again. Still, she made her way carefully and slowly towards it. She stood in front of it and the light from the ceiling cast her shadow down upon it. It must have realized something was there for the blob stopped moving. Then it squirmed harder and faster than before like it was struggling against the ink itself. Well, it was too late for whatever it was to get away. She raised up the ink weapon above her head and was about to slam it down onto the blob when she heard it.

    She froze at the sound and stared down at it with even harder intensity, somehow.  _Did it just-IT COULDN'T BE._ The blob struggled more and let out an angry squeak. She slowly lowered her weapon and turned its tip towards the blob. She carefully poked it and it froze. All of a sudden like a bubble it popped and ink splattered out across the floor. She flinched at the sudden mini explosion and looked at where the blob once was. Instead of nothing being left though, there was something there.

    "IS THAT-"

    "An angel!"

Sure enough one of the little plushies sat in front of her. It was fussing and wiping off as much ink as it could from itself. Since its hands were covered in ink as well though, it wasn't making any progress. It angrily huffed and struggled to get to its feet. However, the ink around it made the wood extremely sick. So it fell forward and landed on its stomach. It didn't move or make a sound for a second, before having a fit. It was like watching an aggravated child having a tantrum.

    "Oh, you poor thing just wait a minute okay."

Alice looked around her room quickly in a search for anything to clean the little angel off with. With nothing in sight, she motioned it to stay put and was just given more angry squeaks. She walked out of her operating room again and headed over to the ink pond. She scanned around for any leftover overalls from a Boris. She had cut up plenty of them before and sometimes had to get rid of their clothes. She usually just threw the material outside near the ink pond, before returning to operating on their bodies.

    So here she was now, walking across the unsteady wooden boards over the pond. She looked around for any clean ones, not in the ink or attached to one. After a few minutes though, she gave up and walked over to the nearest wolf. She unbuttoned his overalls and with some tugging and maneuvering, she was able to pull them off of him. She looked over them, to see that it was a little stained at the top from his black blood but it would do. She finished undoing the rest of his straps, letting his body fall forward. He slid into the ink and became one with the dark pond.

    She ripped off the bloodstained part and threw it into the pond as well, before going back to her room. She shut the door behind her and the sound caught the attention of the inky plush. It quickly turned its head to look at her, but it was trying to stand again. With the sudden movement, it fell backward and landed on its bottom. Loud angry squeals shortly followed as it shook its fists at the sky.

    Alice did her best not to laugh at the little thing as she walked up to it. It looked at her and huffed. It crossed its arms and turned away, to which she just rolled her eyes at. She scooped the angry angel up, much to its protest, and wrapped it up in the overalls like a parent does to their kid with a big towel. It struggled and squealed as she tried to clean it off. When she was cleaning the gunk off its head though she realized that this plush was missing two things.

    "Wait, a second! No halo, missing a horn, lots of yelling, and is extremely angry."

    "ARMY?"

It stopping fighting and acknowledged its name by glaring at her while crossing its arms again.

    "IT'S DEFINITELY YOU."

It let out more upset squeaks and shook one of its fists at her. Alice's only response to that was to just pull part of the overalls over to cover its fist and start rubbing the ink off it. It looked taken back at the attraction and yelled angrily.

    "Jeez tell me how you really feel."

She ignored its burning glare and kept wiping it down.

    "How did you get so dirty anyway?"

She looked up at the whole it had fallen from and a few drops of ink splattered on the floor. The faint echo of screaming boards and sore pipes seemed to come with every little drop.

    "I'M GUESSING YOU CRAWLED THROUGH AN INK PIPE."

It didn't squeak and looked away from her. Before Alice could say anything else the sound of loud splat came from outside. Army frantically turned in the direction of the sound and yelled and squirmed harder underdoing her wraps.

    "Oh god, Did another one fall?"

Alice ran out and her eyes raced all over the floor. They landed on ink blob that splatted two or three feet away from the doorway. Suddenly, the bubble busted and revealed no angel inside. Army immediately started to quiet down at the sight of just an ink stain. It stopped squirming and slumped over.  _Is it okay?_ She shrugged.  _IT PROBABLY THOUGHT ITS BUD WAS COMING TOO._ She buddled the plush back up, but this time it didn't fight her. It just kept looking down with a distant look on its face.

    "Poor thing, Where do you think the others are?"

    "DON'T KNOW, IF THEY ESCAPED THE ROOM BY INK PIPES THEY COULD BE ANYWHERE."

She walked back into the operating room with the silent angel.

    "We need to help it find its friends."

    "HOW? THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO GO OFF IS A GUESS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE CRAWLED THROUGH SOME PIPES."

    "We can still look and we'll find them. Then they can all unite and be okay."

    "LET ME JUST STOP YOU THERE. FIRST, THIS PLACE IS HUGE. SECOND, THIS PLACE IS FULL OF CRAZY DANGEROUS THINGS. THIRD, THEY ARE TONS OF LITTLE HARMLESS PLUSHIES. NOW PUT THAT ALTOGETHER."

    "This place is huge, very dangerous, and there are helpless little angels running around it. Sounds like a great reason to save them to me."

    "NO-I. LOOK, IT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD REASON TO HELP THEM YES. BUT YOU NEED TO BE RATIONAL."

    "I am."

    "WE CAN'T FIND ALL OF THEM AND WE CAN'T JUST DROP WHAT WE'RE DOING AND GO LOOKING AROUND."

    "What if they're in danger?"

    "WHAT IF WE PUT OURSELVES IN DANGER."

She didn't know what to say, so the other one continued onward.

    "I'M NOT SAYING THAT WE SHOULDN'T CARE OR NOT DO ANYTHING. BUT WITH OUR FORMER BOSS AND THE INK DEMON RUNNING AROUND, IT'S BETTER TO LAY LOW."

She tightened her grip on the plush in her arms.

    "...We can at least keep an eye out for them?"

    "YES."

She nodded her head and whispered out,

    "Okay."

Alice stared at the little thing in her arms and carefully set it down. It tilted its head at her, clearly being confused, as she headed over to a wall and felt around the bottom of it.

    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

    "You said we can keep an eye out for them, so I'm gonna uncover it."

    "NO."

    "Yes."

    "SOMETHING MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE US."

    "Maybe, but we'll be able to see if any of them fall without having to leave the room every time because of every little sound."

    "WELL YEAH, BUT-"

    "Either you let me do this or I will drag you all around the halls right now looking for tiny angels. Your choice."

She grumbled to herself and let the other finish finding the handle. Now, this room seemed to have four plain walls. However, one wall wasn't a wall at all. There must have been some complications with the room's design. Whatever this place was supposed to be, Alice had no idea. The certain "wall" was cut open like a window and had glass covering it. Yet, there was still a giant garage pull down door installed above it.

    To which she grabbed its lever and pulled it up. It groaned and scraped against its own old metal as it rolled up at the top. It shed the dust in coats as it brought the bottom up to the top. A loud creaking sound came from its gears where there was a crack on its rollers. A good thunk against it or shake in the room would most likely drop the cover down again, so she made a mental note to be careful with it up.

    Now that she could see out the window and into the next room, it dawned on her how messed up this particular room really was. Not only was there the whole construction problem with the "wall". There also was the whole electric table thing. Yes, she had used the table before, but she wasn't the one who had made it. She wasn't the one who had set up this device or stocked it with so many electric tables that she could just keep her patient on it and change the whole table top off. No, someone else had done that. Whatever this room was for it was a sicking room, yet it was the room she spent the most time in and had made her home.

    A squeak snapped her out of that moment of revelation. She slowly turned around to look at the plush. It stared up at her from its overall towel and tilted its head once more in curiosity. She gave it a small smile as she walked over to it and gently picked it up. She ripped the dirty parts of the fabric off and let it drop to the floor. Wrapping the small angel in the clean fabric. It yelled a little and huffed, yet it didn't fight her or struggle. She gave the Piper her back as more groans came from it. Still staring out the window she said,

    "What should we do now?"

    "FINISH OFF THE PIPER I GUESS."

    "Then what? What about the whole fun with Herny thing?"

    "WE CAN JUST USE HIM FOR SOMETHING."

    "Like some chores or stuff?"

    "I SUPPOSE."

    "Okay, Why are we using him anyway?"

    "...IF WE DON'T USE HIM, HE'LL JUST BE SCOOPED UP INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S POCKET."

    "I see."

She wasn't sure how felt about that or anything for that matter.

    "So, How are we gonna get him to listen to us or work?"

    "FEAR CONTROLS EVERYTHING DOWN HERE YOU KNOW THAT."

    "What if that's not enough?"

    "WE'LL JUST MAKE HIM AN OFFER HE CAN'T REFUSE."

    "Oh?"

    "WE'RE GOING TO OFFER HIM A WAY OUT!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and come back next week. To see if more Angels will appear, or is Alice forever stuck with Miss Authority?


	14. An Electrifying Meeting

    Who knows how long Alice had stared out that window looking forward into a wall. Almost as if she was in a daze, that was only broken every now and then by her eyes occasionally glancing at where a sound came from. Sometimes it was from ink drops hitting the floor, other times it was just the creaking of the building. Whatever the sounds were didn't matter, for things were already very tense. She could hear him. His footsteps along with another's echoed through cracks in walls and boards screamed with his every move.

    Yet, she didn't move or freak out. She stood still and continued to stare off. Like when someone is making their way through their house at night and hears a sound. They pause and stand still, letting their eyes fly over towards the noise. They may not know what it is and the darkness won't let them see, but we still brace ourselves and have a pang of fear in our heart. That was how she was right now.

    The only thing that occasionally drew her attention was the little plush in her arms. She had yet to set the little angel down and over time it had snuggled up in the overalls. In the beginning, Army had huffed at her and squeaked some, what most likely was some insults. Eventually, it became quiet, but it stayed frequently aware of the noises and its surroundings. However, tiredness had taken its toll and while it fought it, sleep had won. A little frown was on its face and its painted brows were furrowed. Still not wanting to disturb it, Alice had been careful not to make any sudden moments.

    The sound of footsteps grew louder and suddenly a loud clank of metal rang out. She didn't have to look to know what that sound was from. The Piper had fully snapped out of its daze and was struggling against its restraints. It let out grunts and growls as it fought against the ropes that were rubbing and burning its arms. As its yells got louder and more desperate, Army started to twitch more. It kicked its little legs until the "covers" were off of it.

    She stared at its upset expression for a second before turning around to look at the Piper with a glare. It starred back at her with its black empty eyes and cried out once more. She kept eye contact with it as she wrapped up the plushy again and walked over to the control panel. Opening a hatch on the panel's side she slid the angel onto a shelf above the wiring and closed the door.  _Do you think that will block out some of the noise? DON'T KNOW BUT IT COULDN'T HURT TO TRY._ The Piper screamed out angrily again and slammed its fists back against the metal table.

    "OH SHUT UP!"

    She turned the key in the podium and listened the gears start to turn. Footsteps crept through cracks into her ears and she starred up towards the ceiling. With having spent so much time in the building and adjusting to its acoustics, she had an idea of where the steps were coming from. Henry and his little travel bud, whatever it was, was somewhere far above her. How many floors up Alice didn't know for sure, but they were in the general area.

    In that general area was something that connected all of the floors here in her dangerous death box that traveled vertically and drops you off. Drops you off at your floor, or the bottom at the Grim Reaper's door.

    Looking over at the trapped Piper and its position, she walked over to the door and opened it. Leaving her room, she walked out to her ink pond and stepped onto the boards. Drops on ink came from above and caused the ripples in the pond. Everything else was still like her patients' corpses while sounds the changed like directions and hits like the ink rain. Stepping off her wooden board bridge, she walked over the elevator and pulled open a panel on its front, that would be between where the entrances would be on the moving box.

    It was full of wires, emergency buttons, and a radio that was connected to a speaker inside the elevator. With that opened and ready, she walked into the elevator. She pushed the button for K the highest floor and quickly got of it. The doors closed and with a loud shriek, the elevator shook as it started its climb. After a minute or two its squeaking stopped and some dust fell down from above. The footsteps stopped as well, and with that, as a good sign, she pressed the radio button. A high pitched ringing came out as the old radio creaked to life. Into its microphone she said,

    "YOU'RE SO INTERESTING...SO DIFFERENT. I MUST SAY I'M AN INSTANT FAN. LOOKS LIKE YOU GOT A DATE WITH AN ANGEL! COME TO ME NOW. LEVEL NINE. JUST FOLLOW THE SCREAMS."

    Taking her hand off the call button, Alice stepped back and looked up into the darkness that seemed to be spreading from the elevators hole and into the room. She waited for a few minutes for a reaction or sound, but soon gave in and returned to her room. The pond continued to ripple and the boards continued to complain about her weight in them. She shut her door behind her and prepared herself to operate.

    The Piper was still yelling but it was clearly tired by the way it was leaning back against the table. It seemed to be struggling to just keep its head raised to look at her. Nevertheless, it needed to be dealt with. The electric wires were starting to warm up as she took one last look out the window.

    "What are you doing?"

    "WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO SURVIVE."

    "Not that. Why did you make a call on the elevator?"

    "SO HENRY COULD HEAR ME, I THOUGHT THAT WAS OBVIOUS."

    "I know that, but why did you say those things? About us being a fan of him or being interested in him? I mean-"

    "AREN'T YOU INTERESTED AS TO HOW HE GOT HERE?"

    "Well, yes but-"

    "LOOK BUTTERING SOMEONE IS THE FIRST STEP TO MANIPULATING THEM."

    "Manipulating him? Why would we need to do that? I thought we were gonna use fear and the offer to control him."

    "WE ARE BUT CERTAIN THINGS HAVE TO BE DONE TO MAKE SURE HE LISTENS AND OBEYS."

    "Make sure he obeys? I thought we just gonna have him run some errands or something for us."

    "HE IS, BUT…"

    "But? There wasn't any 'but' before."

    "THERE'S ALSO BEEN A LITTLE EENSEY WEENSY CHANGE IN PLANS."

    "What change are we talking about exactly?"

    Before she could open her mouth to answer the other's question she was interrupted by a sound. A sound made by a certain death trap moving and as it grew closer she smiled.

    "YOU'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH."

    With that said she turned up the voltage nobs and pressed the final button. The warm wires became an electric fire as they traveled to the table. The Piper screamed and slammed his body around with as much force as he could to escape. It was useless and his screams echoed into the next room, which traveled over the pond, and to the elevator shaft. Where Alice's guest was on his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review and thanks for reading!


	15. An Electric Meeting

    The electricity made its body shake and burn in agony. The Piper's helpless screams echoed in the room and escaped through cracks into the "outside world". Yet, Alice did nothing to free it from its pain. Instead, she turned the voltage up a notch when she heard the elevator reach its stop. Feet touched the boards and made them scream. The steps' sounds rose from the floor and bounced off the already yelling walls, echoing into the deeps of the darkness.

    The walls' yells turned from being strained to being in agony, like the Pipers, when her door was opened. She felt the room shake a little and the rusted metal screeched from down her hallway. She stared straight ahead down the hall as far as she could see to its turn. As footsteps grew louder and a shadow starts to appear from the side of the hall. So she turned her head away and gave the Piper her attention. Seconds later she felt his eyes on her. She knew he was there and she knew he was staring at her.

    She slowly turned her eyes to look at him. Henry stood up and was as stiff as a board as he froze. It was now that she noticed that he was around her height, maybe taller. His clothes were covered in more ink than before and were torn in places. His paper-white hair reflected in the light from her room and lit up his face a little. She made eye contact with him for a brief second before quickly looking away. His eyes had been wide opened and filled with an emotion that Alice knew well, fear. Still, she shoved down her emotions and blocked out the other's words while pushing the electric table's off button.

    "HM, NOW WELCOME TO THE QUESTION...DO I KILL YOU?...DO I TEAR YOU APART TO MY HEART'S DELIGHT? THE CHOICES OF THE BEAUTIFUL ARE UNBEARABLE. HOW'S A GIRL TO CHOOSE?"

Henry swallowed and took a step back.

    "TAKE THIS LITTLE FREAK FOR INSTANCE."

She tilted her head towards the Piper in acknowledgment. It was breathing heavily and gasping in pain and weariness. Henry didn't move and looked out of the corner of his eyes at her patient.

    "HE CRAWLED IN HERE TRAILING HIS TAINTED INK TO MY DOOR! IT COULD HAVE TOUCHED ME. IT COULD HAVE PULLED ME BACK."

The other side broke free of the silent pressure it was under from her.

    "Do you know what it's like? Living in the dark puddles?"

    "IT'S A BUZZING, SCREAMING WELL OF VOICES!"

    "Bits of your mind, swimming...like...like fish in a bowl."

    "THE FIRST TIME I WAS BORN FROM ITS INKY WOMB, I WAS A WIGGLING, PUSSING, SHAPELESS SLUG. THE SECOND TIME...WELL.."

    "It made me an angel!"

She wrapped her arms around herself as she continued.

    "I will not let the demon touch me again. I'm so close now. So...almost perfect."

Letting out a little sigh she looked up at Henry again. His eyes were still wide open and fear still filled them, but something else was there as well. She wasn't sure on exactly what it was so settled on another emotion she knew very well, pity.

    "YES, I WILL SPARE YOU. FOR NOW. BETTER YET…I'LL EVEN LET YOU ASCEND AND LEAVE THIS PLACE. IF YOU DO A FEW EENSEY WEENSY LITTLE FAVORS FOR ME FIRST."

She looked away from him to not see his reaction as he stared even more intensely at her. She didn't want to make eye contact with him, for she didn't know what it would do.

    "RETURN TO THE LIFT MY LITTLE ERRAND BOY. WE HAVE WORK TO DO."

    She quickly slammed her foot down hard behind the control panel. As she hoped it would, the pull-down door's rusty metal chains snapped at the room sudden shake. It fell down in a fast loud screech. As soon as the windows were covered and she was hidden away, she let out a breath of relief and turned the electric table back on.

    Alice stayed quiet as Henry scurried away into the other room far away from her. She could feel the other side fighting and pushing. It was struggling against her in vain to speak and tell her just what it thought about the whole situation. However, she had to focus on the situation at hand and listen to the man's movements, so she kept shutting the other up. Leading to her head pounding and pulse with every tempt the other made at speaking and yelling at her.

    She pushed on though and waited for the same metal shriek of her doors closing, before making her move. She grabbed a plunger out of her crate and made a dash for her giant gateway as quietly as she could. Her ink pond rippled from her feet pounding into the board walkway. She reached the metal entrance in a minute and pulled open the control panel. She scanned it in a rush and found the announcer button. She pushed to turn them on and like the radio, it let out a high pitched noise as it turned on for the first time in years. She heard footsteps suddenly stop.

    "I'LL MAKE THIS SIMPLE. LOOK FOR THE VALVE PANELS. TURN THE LITTLE WHEELS. THEN BRING ME THEIR POWER CORES. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME REGRET SPARING YOU. I CAN ALWAYS CHANGE MY MIND."

    She stuck the plunger in the item delivery box in the wall and pushed the button for it to be sent over. Fear crept into her inky heart as she waited for footsteps to come closer. Waited for the plunger to be taken and her to get a sign of Henry's acceptance. Acceptance of her offer and job. It felt like an eternity to her as no sound came from the other side. Finally, footsteps resumed and slowly and cautiously kept closer. It was quiet for a moment before the metal doors moaned and closed. It opened on her side and the plunger was gone.

    She let out a breath of relief and let his footsteps get farther away from her. Not for his sake, but rather hers. Her heart was pounding faster than it had ever in her life. She pulled herself together enough to give her errand boy one more message.

    "THERE ARE SO FEW RULES TO OUR WORLD NOW. SO LITTLE TRUTHS. BUT THERE IS ONE RULE WE ALL KNOW AND RESPECT DOWN HERE. BEWARE THE INK DEMON. STAY OUT IN THE OPEN FOR TOO LONG AND HE WILL FIND YOU. FOR IF YOU SEE HIM, YOU'D BETTER HIDE. IF YOU DON'T, WELL, I ENJOYED OUR DATE. NOW, LET US BEGIN OUR WORK."

The footsteps continued onwards and the death box squealed to life and began its rise. As it ascended, she let her control and pressure over the other slip. But first, she took her hand off the announcer button and turned the megaphones off, she made the right choice.

    "What the heck was that!?"

    "FOR WHA-"

    "You know what I'm talking about!"

    "I-"

    "I don't want to listen to you right now!"

    "LET ME EXPLA-"

    "Noooooooooo!"

    "JUST LET ME TALK AN-"

    "It's not nice to be interrupted is it!?"

    "YOU-"

    "Or be blocked out is it!?"

    "I-"

    "Well, let's see how you like it then!"

    "ARE YOU OKA-"

    "What do you think?"

    "WELL,-"

    "Well too bad, you can't talk right now. Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala."

She chose to just keep her mouth closed as the other side continued to make a racket by singing an annoying tune. She supposed she deserved it, although she'd never admit it. After three or four minutes of constant sound making, she finally calmed down.

    "...ARE YOU OKAY NOW?"

    "No, I'm still mad at you."

    "OKAY, I KNO-"

    "Interruption!"

Now it was starting to get on her nerves.

    "LOOK, I KNOW YOU'RE UPSET BUT I CAN EXPLAIN!"

She received in a mocking tone and eye roll,

    "Oh really, Can you know?"

    "YES, I WON'T HAVE TO SHUT YOU UP IF WE HAD WENT OVER THE PLAN. BUT WE DIDN'T BECAUSE HENRY SHOWED UP SO SOON."

    "Well, what exactly is this plan of yours. Last time if I recall we were doing OUR plan."

    "IT WAS A LAST MINUTE DECISION."

    "That you didn't run by me."

    "I KNOW BUT-"

    "You better start running it by me now you hear, and you better not shut me up again. Are we clear?"

    "...YES."

    "Good cause next time you'll regret it."

Despite that being a threat, she could hear the other's shaky tone. The angry gave way to her uneasiness and upsetness, but she didn't know why. Yes, she made her be quiet but she didn't think she'd be so affected by it. Before, she could ask or dive into the situation further a loud sound echoed. It was a light banging sound like someone had dropped a coin on the floor.

    "WHAT WAS THAT?"

Realization suddenly slapped her in the face as the other yelled,

    "Oh my god, we left Army in the electric box shelf thing!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please leave a comment.


	16. The Plan

    "I swear if she is burnt up or on fire, you are gonna be in so much trouble."

    "IT'S NOT MY FAULT...WELL NOT COMPLETELY."

    Alice Angel was running down the hall and over the ink pond as fast as she could. While part of her noticed and was wary of how the boards were yelling and slamming into the ink pond, creating noticeable waves, another part punished forward in a heart-pounding panic. They had put the little plush on a shelf inside the electric machine. It was already kind of a bad idea to that in the first place.

    However, she needed the angel out of sight and didn't think about it too much when she did it. All she could now was cross her fingers that Army wasn't hurt. With a mix of emotions flowing through her, she slammed open the door and rushed over to the podium. She flipped off the electric device and grabbed the handle on the side of it. She opened it up quickly and was greeted with overalls to the face. The cloth covered her for a minute taking away her sight, but not her ears. Which was greeted with plenty of loud yelling squeaks. Pulling the rag off her head she let out a sigh of relief at the little angel.

    Army was fine, fine and very angry. It had its arms crossed and was stomping its foot at Alice. All the while squeaking and letting her have it. Alice didn't need to know what it was saying to know that there was probably some very colorful vocabulary sprinkled in its angry speech. Still, she scooped the little plush up and it yelled. She hugged it and said,

    "I'm so glad you're okay! God, who knows how bad it would've been if you got electrocuted."

It struggled in her arms and kicked its legs.

    "Okay, okay I'll let you go."

    She set it down and it shook its fist at her. After a few more words or squeals, in this case, it seemed to have let out most of its steam. It huffed and turned away from Alice, now letting its eyes roam around the room. It took a couple of steps before letting out a yell of fear. It froze in place and was shaken up, following its eyes she realized it was looking at the Piper.

    "Oh, it's fine. Look, it's dead."

    Sure enough, the thing had stopped breathing and moving from the electricity doing it in. Army snapped out of its frozen state but still looked worried. To help prove her point Alice flicked and poked Piper's unmoving head. Army just looked at the body again, before making her way once more. This time as far away from the Piper as possible.

    That's what drove it over the crate in the corner. Not wasting a second it climbed up the side of the crate and stuck its tongue out at her before dropping on inside the box. Alice listened to it rustle around in the box for a second.

    "Now, Where were we?"

    "HUH?"

    "Right, What is this plan of yours?"

    "MY PLAN...OH RIGHT! MY PLAN."

    "You forgetting what it was for a minute isn't raising my confidence in it."

    "I KNOW. I KNOW."

    "Yes, you know. But I don't so fill me in here."

    "OKAY, LOOK WE NEED TO MANIPULATE HENRY INTO HELPING USE ESCAPE."

    "How's he gonna help us?"

    "IT'S SIMPLE, HOW DID HENRY GET HERE?"

    "From falling, I think we've already established that."

    "GEEZ, SOMEONE'S SNAPPY."

    "Considering everything that's happened in the last few hours, Can you blame me?"

    "GOOD POINT. ANYWAY, THAT NOT WHAT I MEANT BY HOW HE GOT HERE?"

    "...The floor breaking?"

    "UGG, YES. BUT HE GOT TO THE STUDIO MOST LIKELY BY A CAR."

    "A car, What does that have to do with anything?"

    "THINK ABOUT IT. HE HAS A CAR AND HE HAS TO HAVE A HOUSE HERE, OR AT LEAST IF HE'S VISITING A HOTEL ROOM."

    "Are you thinking about what I think you're thinking?"

    "I'M THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK I'M THINKING. WE CAN FINALLY GET OUT OF HERE."

She took a deep breath in as the other's words started to set in.

    "Oh god, we-we can be free."

    "I KNOW."

Despite the concern in her tone, it was mixed with excitement and hope for the first time in who knows how long.

    "But, Wait! We're not ready, we're still not whole and we don't even have our things together. Gosh, what should we pack?"

    "DON'T WORRY I GOT IT ALL FIGURED OUT. IF WE KEEP USING HENRY, THEN WE'LL BE FINE."

    "What are we gonna do to him?"

    "WE'LL JUST HAVE HIM DO SOME ODD JOBS FOR US WHILE WE GET READY TO LEAVE."

    "What about our looks?"

    "EASY, WE'LL JUST HAVE ONE OF THOSE ODD JOBS TO BE GATHERING SOME THINK INK FOR US. THEN WHILE HE DOES SOMETHING ELSE, WE CAN FINISH OURSELVES AND WHATEVER PACKING WE HAVE LEFT TO DO."

    "I can't believe it this is really happening!"

    "BELIEVE IT! WE'RE GONNA BE FREE!"

    "Yeah! Woah wait, How are we gonna make Henry take us with him?"

    "WELL, I HAVEN'T THAT ABOUT THAT PART YET. BUT WORST COMES TO WORST, WE CAN ALWAYS JUST FOLLOW HIM OUT, KNOCK HIM OUT, AND TAKE HIS CAR AND STUFF."

    "That's horrible. We're already gonna use him, I don't want to rob him too!"

    "HEY, THAT'S JUST THE WORST CASE SCENARIO. I'M SURE WE CAN SCARE OR MANIPULATE HIM INTO TAKING US."

    "Or just ask nicely. Whatever, I just don't want to spend our first moments free to involve being a rotten theft. The last thing we need is a few days in the Big House."

    "AGREED."

    "So it's settled then."

    "YEAH."

    The clank of some metal against wood and other metal objects rang out. It was shortly followed by many loud yelps that interrupted their conversation. Alice walked over to the crate and looked inside. Army pushed the crank off of it and yelled at it. It waved its fist around some before looking up at her. In a begrudgingly way it held its arms up and made a grabby motion with its hands, like a young child who wants their parent to pick them up.

    She hoisted them out of the crate only for if to wiggle when she held onto it. When she tried to set it down though, it let out more squeals and grabbed her as it got closer to the ground. Not knowing what it wanted she held onto it, but loosened her grip on it. Army squirmed for a second more, before gripping onto Alice's shoulder. She was confused for a minute but soon figured out what was going on. Army pulled itself up and sat on her shoulder. Making itself comfortable it scooted around a bit and wrapped itself up in her hair like one would do with a cape.

    "Haha, you sure made yourself at home."

It huffed and turned its headway, but she still saw a little shade of gray spread across its face in a blush.

    "Hey, Can we take this little thing us too?"

    "I GUESS?"

    "If we find any other plushes while we're getting ready, Can we bring them too?"

    "WELL I DON'T KNOW ABOUT-"

    "Please, they probably want to be free as much as we do!"

    "...FINE."

    "Yay!"

She petted Army's head and ruffled its hair, much to its annoyance.

    "You hear that buddy, we're gonna escape. We're gonna be free!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys just wanted to say thanks for reading. I also think that I have to tell you this. When I originally started writing this story I started way before Chapter 3 of the game's update (It took me a long time to decided whether or not to post this fanfic.) So, if things don't line up perfectly with some dialogue this is the reason why.


	17. One Errand Down, Amen to That

    "Hooray! Hooray! We're gonna be free today!"

    Yes, Alice was happy about the chance of leaving. However, it had dwindled a little from her other half's constant singing. A headache was beginning and the light pounding around the halo was a perfect indicator of it. Yet, when she had asked her to shut up, she was ignored. She supposed that she could tolerate it for a bit longer, but only a bit. After all, they should be-No WOULD be escaping soon. She could let the other be happy for now and pick up some medicine when they got out.

    "You must be in a really good mood, not that I can blame you."

    "OH, WHATCHA MEAN BY THAT?"

    She just giggled at the usual brash side and continued on humming her song. Tilting her head side to side to the beat, she was still mindful to be careful not to shake off Army. The plush had been sitting on her shoulder for a while now with an annoyed look on its face. Probably from being tired of the songs and maybe from sitting too long. So, she interrupted the other's humming for a minute.

    "HERE I'LL SET YOU FREE BUD."

    "Uh? What do you by that?"

    To which she just rolled her eye at that and grabbed the plush. She picked Army off her shoulder and set it on the ground. It didn't wait for a second before running off towards the crate again. As Army began climbing, all Alice could do was laugh at it. The other one grumbled and crossed their arms as she finally put two and two together.

    "My singing isn't that bad."

She said while pouting.

    "ARMY SEEMS TO BIG TO DIFFER."

She groaned at that as the other snickered. Finally stopping her song it seemed that she realized the light pounding in their head.

    "Oww."

    "WELL, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP."

    "Oh please, we get headaches whether I sing or not."

    "TRUE."

Before she could pester the other side more on her singing, the sounds of footsteps echoed down in the building. Following it came the loud screeching sound of the metal death box as it made its descent once more.

    "THAT'S OUR QUE."

    Alice looked over at the crate in the corner and listened to Army rattling around in it. She walked over to it and peeked inside to see the tiny angel looking curiously and rolling a small gear around on the floor. Reaching over the plush, she was careful not to knock anything over on top of it when picking up her ink weapon. Army took notice of her moving things but seem to care, it was much more preoccupied with the gear.

    Having what she needed, Alice quietly left the room and made her way down the hall to the giant metal closed door. She looked down at the ink tool, or weapon in some cases, in her hands and felt a small bit of uncertainty wash over her. She didn't want to give her weapon over to Henry. What if he lost it, broke it. If he was going to get ink for her, he needed to do it efficiently and correctly. She shook the thought out of her head. Before she could debate about it anymore she heard Henry's footsteps grow closer. When she could hear him passing crossing the wooden bridge, she pushed the announcer button and spoke up.

    "YOU'RE QUIET THE EFFICIENT LITTLE ERRAND BOY, AREN'T YOU?"

She could hear him stop for a second before stepping closer.

    "PLACE THE POWER CORES IN THE BIN AND TURN IN YOUR PLUNGER."

    After a second or two she listened to rusty bin squeak as it was opened and heard the clank of metal as the power cores landed on each other. Shortly following that, the turnstile contraption woke up and turned around in a loud squeal of rusty metal to revival her plunger. She took it out and dropped it on the floor, and put her ink weapon in its place.

    "HAVE YOU SEEN THEM? THE SWOLLEN ONES! THEY'RE JUST STUFFED FULL OF EXTRA THICK INK. IT MAKES ME SICK!"

The other side butted in for a second.

    "And yet...it's the perfect thing for keeping myself together."

    "IF YOU'RE GOING TO CATCH THEM, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN TO MOVE QUIETLY. COME BACK TO MY DOOR. I HAVE SOMETHING THAT YOU'LL NEED."

    She hesitated on pushing the button to send her tool over. But took a deep breath and pushed the button. The doors opened on the side with rusty screechy scrap and she listened to Henry's footsteps get farther and farther away, taking her tool with him. She could hear as he got farther away the sound of an old audio tape running with all that done, she slowly walked back to her room.

    "Should we have given him our tool?"

    "...I DON'T KNOW. I MEAN, IF HENRY'S GONNA GET INK FOR US, HE'S GONNA NEED TO DO IT RIGHT."

    "That tool is the easiest way."

    "I GUESS."

    "Let's not dwell on it, we already gave it to him."

    "YOU'RE RIGHT, WE WON'T NEED IT AFTER WE LEAVE ANYWAY."

    "Eyup."

    They carefully crossed the thin wooden bridge over their victims' bodies. The dark pond barely reflecting themselves up at them. They paid it no attention though and proceed back into the room. The shuffling and moving sounds in the crate indicated that Army was still doing who knows what in there. So she just leaned back against the door and took a deep breath.

    That breath was quickly stopped and stolen from her though as her head suddenly pounded harshly. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to the back of her skull. And that force had knocked a long forgotten memory to the front of her mind.

     She was back in the recording studio with the music playing. The same tune that she could never remember the words too. The conductor was leading keeping in sync and was tapping his foot along to the tune. The song came to an end and he turned to look at her. Suddenly everything was different,

     She was now in a different place. The walls of the room were blurred and all she could see was the table in front of her. A person sitting on the other end came into view as well. They were a scribble of messy lines and shapes so she couldn't make out what they looked like. Their voice was disorientated too, it wavery in tone and pitch. Somehow though it carried a familiar feeling in it, she couldn't place exactly why.

    "YoU PERfect FOr tHIs rOLE, YOU know."

    When the scribbled out the body was done speaking, she found herself consumed in the light. She was back in the music room and the conductor was walking towards her. As he grew closer the clearer he became. He looked like a young man around his mid-20s with a tall lean body. He wore a black vest and black pants with a black bow tie. The only thing not black on him was his long-sleeved white t-shirt.

    "You have some real talent, doll."

His voice was sharp, a little deep and slightly gravely as he spoke. It was quickly overlapped by the sketchy's figures as darkness surround the corner of her eyes.

    "Don'T LIsteN tO tHAt Guy. HiS MUsiC iS gOOd BuT He AIN't noTHing BUt A liaR."

But as the darkness faded in completely she heard the conductor's voice once more.

     "I don't know how you stand Joey. I swear the minute anyone leaves the room he starts talking crap about them. Jeez, the guy can't chill."

Forgotten silent words came from her and the conductor shook his head in agreement to whatever they were.

    "Amen to that."

And with that said, Alice found herself sitting on the floor of the room leaning against the door. She slowly let her eye look around the area, yet she couldn't fully grasp everything. As if what she was seeing and hearing wasn't sinking in or staying with her, much like her memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading you guys, and I hope you tune in next Saturday as well.


	18. The Headache from Hell

    God, it hurt. It hurt like hell Like Satan himself was slamming on her skull like a drum. Alice was bent over on her knees grabbing her head, trying to somehow rub away the pain. Yet, it seemed to nothing but it was all that she knew and could do. The lights around her seemed suddenly way too bright. She quickly shut her one good eye and leaned over even more, as if that would help her escape the light.

    All this did, was make her finally fall over from her sitting position to the ground. Where she curled up in on herself and covered her eye with her hands. She didn't know why this was happening. This wasn't the first time that she had remembered her past, so why was it so bad now. Then, of course, this was the first time that the flashback had switched scenes so fast and basically mashed themselves together.

    It was too much for her. Alice let out a painful scream and yelled in her head.  _GOD WHY DOES HURT LIKE A-I don't know. I just want it to stop._ She didn't know how long she laid there curled up on the floor in agony. However, time itself couldn't ever feel as long as it did when she was in pain. Little by little the frequent sharp pounding slowly became just occasional dull pounding. As it took its sweet time to stop, she could swear that the pounding was spreading.

    For a bit, she thought it was just in her head but it soon felt like it was on her arm. As her head's haze cleared a little, she could feel the pounding to on her hand exactly. This pounding wasn't heavy or painful even. Compared to her head it was gentle and kind. Still, it took even longer for her to realize that the pounding was more like pats and was coming from outside.

    It wasn't hurting her muscles as it made them pulse, because it didn't make them pulse at all. But if her body wasn't doing the pats then what was? Holding her hand up to help block the light from shining right down on her face, she opened her eye. She regretted doing that immediately. It caused a sharp spike of pain in her eye and to her head.

    Alice blinked letting her eye adjust to everything and let her vision set. It was blurry for a bit but it soon settled. Looking up at her hand, she was met with a set of concerned black painted eyes. Army was by her hand and was still gently patting it. It let out a squeak version of a whisper and tilted it's head to the left. As if it was asking her something, but she didn't know what.

    The thumps in her head made her wince and she closed her eye again. She brought her other hand down and set it on her face. The pats on her left hand stopped then, and Alice let out a painful breath. The plush probably thought they were sleeping and were fins now. It probably just left and went back to digging around the crate. Those thoughts were stopped by a pat.

    She could feel two little hands on top of her big hand that was still on her head. Army continued to gently pat and rub her hand in an attempt to stop her pain. She let herself crack a little smile at that. Even though her head still hurt, she slowly sat up and tried not to be sick from her lightheadedness. She looked over her shoulder at the plush and motioned for it to come closer.

    Army looked a bit unsure and uneasy for a minute, but after some more coaching waves it gave in. It carefully stepped closer and was greeted with a smile and a hand ruffling its hair. It made a content quiet sound that if her senses weren't so on alert and screwy she might not have heard it.

    "Were you worried about me, bud?"

    The tiny angel stopped making the content sound and took a step back from her. It had a little gray blush spread across its face as it shook its head no.

    "CAN'T AMIT YOU CARE MISS AUTHORITY?"

    It only huffed and turned away while crossing its arms. Alice let out a dry chuckle but stopped when she felt another spike of pain. She basically dragged herself to her feet and leaned against the wall.

    "What was that?"

    "I DON'T KNOW, BUT WHATEVER THAT WAS IT SUCKED."

    "Yeah…"

    "ALTHOUGH, I GUESS IT'S MORE OF A REASON FOR US TO GET OUT OF HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."

    "True, Do you think Henry is back?"

    "DON'T KNOW. I COULDN'T HEAR ANYTHING WITH WHATEVER THAT WAS GOING ON."

    "We should probably go make sure that he isn't waiting on us or something."

    "I GUESS."

    She felt light-headed and nearly fell over as soon as she stopped using the wall for support. Slowly and dizzy she made her way over to the crate and pull out something without even looking at it. She had grabbed a wrench and just went on her way.

    "What's he gonna do with that?"

    "I DON'T KNOW, WE'LL FIND SOMETHING FOR HIM TO DO WITH IT."

    Not feeling that good still she wobbleD unsteadily over the ink pond's boards. The ripples shook up the 'water' and made the bodies at the surface bob. The floorboards yelled as she walked over them and made her way to her metal door.

    As she grew reached it though, a spike of pain flashed through her head. And with it, it brought flashes of a strange machine, some music sheets, and wheelchair. Swinging her fist forward to somehow fight the pain, she hit the wall too hard. Resulting in the wall's boards cracking and breaking. She dropped the wrench and pulled her hand close to her body. Now feeling the pounding, for real, in two areas of her body she wasn't too happy. Next thing she knew she could hear the elevators loud descent to her floor. And footsteps soon followed.  _GREAT, JUST GREAT, GRADE A TIMING HENRY._

    As she looked forward trying to make him feel her glare through the boards, she caught sight of something. Where she had punched, it had taken out a very small piece of the wood, resulting in a ragged hole. She could see through it and make out two shadows. That's when realization set in for Alice as well with that pain.  _God, there's someone with him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment.


	19. The Wonderful Wolf

    She didn't know how she hadn't noticed the other's footsteps as they echoed, but now it was really biting her in the but. For Alice hadn't counted on Henry having a friend with him and this, no doubt, would be a problem. She silently cursed to herself as she kept an eye on Henry's approach and the other shady figure's movements. As Henry grew closer and the mysterious figure became clearer, she finally got a look at him.

 _Oh, it's just a little wolf._ The Boris was standing up tall and very much alive, unlike its brothers that were enjoying themselves in her ink pool. It looked well and was walking at a good pace with Henry. Fast enough that it wasn't slugging behind, but slow enough that it wasn't ahead of its bud. Although, it came to stop where the wooden bridge began she couldn't help but stare at him. She scanned up and down his body looking for any defects on it anywhere.

    Not spotting any immediately, she grew a little puzzled but also a little intrigued with the wolf. How it had survived in such good condition for so long peaked her interest a little. Before she could think too long on these thoughts though, she realized that Henry was stepping up to the bin to deposit his inky finds. It was also then that Alice realized another thing, she had no idea what to tell Henry to do now.

    She looked down at the wrench she had dropped and picked it up quickly. Walking over the turntable like device she pushed the button and quickly took out her ink tool. She put the wrench in its place and made her way over the announcer button. She pushed it and tried to quickly think of something Henry could do to keep him occupied for a little while longer. Surprisingly the more peaceful side was the one who spoke first.

    "My machines are hungry! Gather me some spare parts."

    With that said she walked over and pushed the button to send him the wrench. She nervously waited to hear him take the tool and leave. He waited a minute, most like from confusion at her short explanation, before grabbing the tool. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as him footsteps started heading in the opposite direction.

    She did quietly look out through her little spying hole though and watch his and the Boris' backs as they left. She scanned the cartoon character's back before it disappeared out of her sight. A second later she listened to the elevator start up and leave with a screeching sound. Not sure exactly what the think she leaned against the wall.

    "It was perfect."

    "WHAT?"

    "The wolf, Boris. I haven't seen one that stable before."

    "HE PROBABLY DIDN'T LOOK THAT BAD BECAUSE WE WERE SEEING HIM FROM A DISTANCE."

    "Still, he looked pretty good."

    "NOW WHAT, YOU GETTING THE HOTS FOR THAT WILD ANIMAL?"

    "What, no!"

She could feel the heat rising to their cheeks and smirked at the other's reaction. The other a second later just pouted in return.

    "That's not what I'm getting at."

    "THEN WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT?"

    "...Do you think we should get him?"

    "GET HIM?"

    "For, you know."

It took a second to catch onto what the other was implying.

    "WHAT NO! THAT'S WAY TOO MUCH OF A HASSLE."

    "But he looked perfect."

    "WE ALREADY HAVE THE PIPER TO USE TO FINISH US UP. WE NEED TO GET THE NEW INK WE HAVE AND JUST GET STARTED."

    "Don't you want to be completed perfectly?"

She wasn't sure what to say to that, so the other continued in a gentle tone.

    "Look, I know we need to just complete ourselves already and all that but, that doesn't mean we should rush it.."

    "BUT THE PLAN!"

    "We can stick to the plan, we just have to give Henry some more chores and snatch up the Boris while he's busy."

    "THAT'S NOT A BAD IDEA AND ALL, BUT WHY SHOULD WE WASTE OUR TIME ON THAT ONE BORIS. WHAT IF WE DO ALL THIS WORK AND IT DOESN'T PAY OFF."

    "That's true, but we won't know until we try. He looked perfect."

She finally gave in to her other sides persistence.

    "OKAY LOOK HERE'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO. WE WAIT FOR HENRY AND HIS DOG TO COME BACK, THEN WE'LL GIVE HIM ANOTHER TASK. WHILE THAT'S HAPPENING WE'LL LOOK OVER THE MUTT AND IF IT'S GOOD ENOUGH WE'LL DO YOUR LITTLE THING. IF IT'S NOT THOUGH, WE DO MY THING AND JUST USE THE PIPER TO COMPLETE US."

    "Sounds good to me!"

    "GOOD."

Satisfied with their arrangement, she nodded her head yes and crossed her arms smugly. One side still had something else left to say and didn't let her stay smug for long.

    "ALTHOUGH, I GOTTA ASK WHEN DID YOU BECOME SUCH A LITTLE SCHEMER? NEVER THOUGHT YOU HAD IT IN YOU."

    "Well, I-Um."

    "YOU GONNA TELL WHY YOU WANT THIS SPECIFIC BORIS, TOO?"

She was quiet for a second before replying with,

    "It's nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!


	20. Why, the Wolf?

    The words it's nothing, continue to bounce around and repeat in her head. She had been trying to ignore the other's words, but it just wouldn't seem to disappear. Even as she made another cut into Piper's face it still won't leave her alone. While they had come to an agreement about waiting for Henry and the Boris to return, she still had work to do. If this Boris wasn't worth it, then the least they could do was get what they needed from the already gone Piper.

    So Alice was getting her hands dirty and taking what she needed. Luckily, she had done this procedure many times before and it didn't take up much of her attention. Well, maybe that was a bad thing. It didn't distract her from those words. She knew her other half could sense that something was wrong, for she could feel her concern. It was only a matter of time before she would speak up and question her.

    She still didn't stay anything and just tried to shove down her emotions deeper. Focusing more on removing the pieces she had cut, and storing them properly. Yet, with every piece pulled and every emotion shoved down, she could feel it. The other's concern and worry about it growing. With that, she became the other and the other came more into control.

    "Are you okay?"

She took in a deep breath and started putting the pieces into a jar that she had earlier filled with a little bit of ink.

    "I'M FINE."

    "I don't think you are."

    "WELL, HOW DO YOU THINK I AM?"

    "I don't know, but you're not okay. You can't hide that from me."

She muttered under her breath,

    "OH, BUT YOU CAN HIDE THINGS FROM ME."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "IT'S NOTHING."

    "...I…"

She could sense her surprise and taken backness. Letting out a sign and deciding that she didn't want to deal with unpleasant silence for long, she spoke up.

    "WHY DO YOU WANT THAT BORIS SO MUCH?"

    "Excuse me."

    "I MEAN WHY'S HE SO IMPORTANT? WE DON'T NEED HIM."

    "Yes, we do."

    "WHY? WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED."

Her voice harden a little as she said,

    "No, we don't."

The other one kept on pushing through.

    "WE HAVE THE PIECES WE NEED TO COMPLETE OURSELVES, TO BE ANGEL, I MIGHT ADD. WE ALSO HAVE HENRY AND A WAY OUT. WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED?"

    "The Boris."

    "WHY?"

    "We need to be perfect."

    "WE CAN BE RIGHT NOW."

    "Not like this."

    "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WE HAVE THE RIGHT PIECES."

    "No, we don't."

    "YES WE DO."

She grabbed the jar of parts and held it in front of their face. For the sake of shoving her point in, even more, she shook the jar a little watching the pieces bump around a little.

    "Stop, just stop."

    "WHY ARE YOU BEING LIKE THIS?"

    "Stop."

    "WE'RE SO CLOSE, WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT ANY LONGER?"

    "SHUT UP!"

With that scream of anguish her damn busted open. Cold black tears streamed out of her eyes, well her eye and hole in her head. It was her turn to be taken back at her other half's actions.

    "I don't know, okay. I don't know."

She mumbled through sobs and tightly hugged herself.

    "Why are YOU being like this?"

She didn't know what to say to that, it was as if every word left her mind at the moment. They fled her head and made he mouth dry by sliding off her tongue into a silent nonexistence. However, while her mouth was dry the tears wetted their face and dripped off their chin.

    "...I...I DIDN'T."

    She choked on the sobs of her half and struggled to breath none-the-less talk. So she didn't, at least not out loud.  _I...I'M SORRY._ Her breaths were raspy and quick. Her body starting shake in desperation and fear. For waves of unsettlement shot up and down their spines. With that they collapsed to the ground, both drowning in emotions.

    Emotions that they didn't know which ones belonged to who. Eventually, the waves of feeling slowly began to calm and little by little their dry mouth started to become moist once more. Even so their shivers still occasionally shook their poor inky body.

    "I'M SORRY."

She took in a shaky breath.

    "I know."

She tightened her grip on her arms and tried to feel any sort of warmth.

    "You know how we're gonna leave soon?"

    "YES."

    "When we leave there's gonna be no more ink beings like us."

    "...YEAH?"

    "So, if we go out and we escape there's gonna be no one...No one can fix us. There's no one to make us perfect."

    "IS THAT WHY YOU WANT HIM?"

    "Yes. If just put ourselves together just because we can, then how are we gonna be perfect."

She out another shaky breath.

    "We're gonna be stuck with the decisions we make here of our life. I just don't want us to regret this when we can't do anything about it."

    "OKAY. THEN WE'LL MAKE SURE WE DON'T."

    "How?"

    "WE'LL WAIT FOR THE BORIS."

Alice wiped her eyes and hiccuped a little.

    "Really?"

    "YEAH."

    "You promise."

    "WE'LL GET THE BORIS."

    "You swear."

    "I SWEAR."

The shivers slowly stopped after a while and her breath evened out.

    "I have to know something though."

    "WHAT?"

    "Why were you being like that?"

    "Because I'm tired of it."

     "Tired, tired of what?"

    "Nothing."

As silence fell over them, Alice rubbed away some tears again and looked around the room to help pull herself back together. Everything was as it used to be, except for the overalls near the crate. From where she was, she could still see Army curled up on top of them.

    When she had returned and began the operation earlier, the little plush had been excited. It had stuck close and perched on her shoulder, carefully watching her actions. Occasionally it would flinch back from the Piper, but it had been good for most of the time. After a few minutes of the operation though, it had grown impatient and started to squirm. A little bit later it was ready to pass out and fall off her shoulder. So she had set it down and watch it sleepy toddle off to where it had now made its bed. How it had slept through her breakdown she didn't know, but she was glad that it had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment.


	21. Figuring Out Plans

The silence between them wasn't as unsettling as it was earlier. Perhaps, it was because they had finally talked about the Boris, although there was plenty of other things that they needed to discuss. For now, it was, at least, somewhat peaceful. The other thing that probably helped the mood was the tiny angel. Army had woken up a few minutes ago bundled up in the overalls and had crawled deeper into the "covers".

It was most likely trying to avoid getting up or wanting to sleep longer. However, now the plush was squirming around inside the cloth. It was letting out angrily frustrated squeaks as it shuffled around in the "trap". Alice just quietly sat in her spot watching Army try to fight and find its way out. The little lump moving around under the After three or four minutes, it popped out of a leg hole and let out a loud squeal of victory.

She chuckled at its victory cry and received a glare in return. It pulled the rest of its body out and huffed as it walked over to her. It shot another glare at her before trying to climb up her arm into her shoulder. She put her hand under its bottom to make it didn't fall as it rose higher. Finally reaching its goal it plopped itself on her shoulder before letting out a demanding sound. Reaching up Alice simply rubbed its head and felt it nuzzle a little into her palm.

"WE REALLY SHOULDN'T BE SPOILING HER LIKE THIS."

"Why not?"

"SHE'LL THINK IT'S OKAY TO BE LOUD AND DEMANDING."

"Well, did you expect her to be any different. You named her Army for a reason."

"I'M STARTING TO THINK MISS AUTHORITY FITS BETTER."

"Army Authority, doesn't sound too bad for a name."

"I GUESS NOT."

They felt a little hand patting at their own and heard a little grumble. While they were talking they must have slowly stopped rubbing its head too much of its announce. She just tapped its head and softly said,

"Oh, stop that."

She returned to rubbing its heads and ruffling its hair a little.

"For someone who gets cross with me so quickly, you're very cuddly."

It just grumbled a little but did nothing else. So she let it be and ruffled it's hair for a second, before going back to rubbing its head fully. The sounds of the ink pumping through the pipes echoed in the room, along with little drips that had landed in the ink body pond. The creaks from the boards came and went like the creatures that made them.

It occurred to her and the other side then that this might be one of the last time they made to deal with it. Soon they would free of this sounds and lifestyle. A lifestyle of living in constant fear and full of tenseness. She would be free, free because of Henry. But with that thought, a new line of concern and worries filled their shared mind.

"We need Henry for this like we can't do it without him right?"

"I DON'T KNOW."

"It's simple right? I mean we need his car and house or wherever he's staying."

"WE BASICALLY NEED WHAT HE OWNS, BUT NOT HIM."

"...Do, do you think he'll hurt us?"

"HONESTLY?"

"Yes, I need you to be honest right now."

"THERE'S A CHANCE, I GUESS THAT HE COULD RAT US OUT TO SOMEONE."

"God, he could!"

Her insecurities and worry started to spread through them.

"HE COULD, YES."

"What would happen to us then? What would they do?"

"I GUESS THEY WOULD TRY TO HELP US?"

She wasn't sure or confident in her own answer.

"That or drag us off to some strange testing sights, like they do in those moving pictures with the space people."

"UM, MAYBE. I DON'T KNOW."

"Yeah, I mean Henry wouldn't do that, would he?"

When she didn't receive an immediate answer she started to panic a little. Sensing the panic, the other tried to take control and reassure her.

"HEY, IT'LL BE OKAY."

"How do you know that?"

"LOOK, LET'S JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT TO DO IF HE TRIES TO RAT US OUT OR SOMETHING."

"...Okay."

"WE ALREADY SAID THAT IF WORST CAME TO WORSE THAT WE'D KNOCK HIM OUT AND ESCAPE."

"That's a way to deal with it."

"YES, BUT WE NEED TO THINK FURTHER THAN THAT."

"How far?"

"IF, AND THIS IS A BIG IF, WE HAVE TO KNOCK HENRY OUT WHAT DO YOU THINK HE'LL DO. YOU KNOW WHEN HE WAKES UP."

"Well, he'll probably be upset."

"DEFINITELY, NOW WHAT IF HE GETS OUT OF HERE AND SEES THAT HIS CAR AND STUFF IS MISSING?"

"He'll call the police and rat us out!"

"IF WE TAKE HIS STUFF AND LEAVE WITHOUT HIM, YEAH."

"Gosh, alright let's look at everything. First, we're gonna get that Boris and complete ourselves. Then we're gonna get all our stuff, and Army, then leave. That's all that's final, right?"

"SET IN STONE."

"Okay, so scenario one: We get Henry to take us with him. We leave together and we risk him telling people about us."

"EEYEUP, SCENARIO TWO: HENRY DOESN'T WANT TO TAKE US. SO WE KNOCK HIM OUT AND LEAVE WITH HIS THINGS. HOWEVER, IF HE DOES ESCAPE THEN HE'LL DEFINITELY RAT ON US. PLUS, WITHOUT HENRY BEING OUTSIDE MIGHT BE HARDER TO MANAGE. WITH NO COVER OR CONNECTION TO ANYONE OR ANYTHING."

"This is has a chance of going bad either way."

She let out a sigh.

"I know this might sound bad, but if we do end up in scenario two I wish there was a way to make sure that Henry didn't rat us out."

With that said they fell into another moment of silence. The echoes fully filled the world around them. Echoes of boards' and creatures' screams with ink rain pattering the wood, once more. Some far off pipe's whistles, to let out steam, shortly followed. Meanwhile, the loudest sound to her was given to her ears by the environment, but rather a little angel on her shoulder. Army was giving out a sound similar to a high pitched purr, that was closer to that of a kitten's rather than an adult cat. It occasionally nuzzled into her palm every now and then but would stop when Alice looked at it and let out a hiss at her.

Still for that moment and that moment alone things seemed peaceful. So she just breathed and closed her eyes. The thoughts of what to do echoed in her mind. Little thoughts of the outside world and the freedom she would soon taste. She was sure it would be such a wonderful rich taste that she would never be able to wipe it off her palette.

These thoughts bumped around and touched with thoughts of her plans. Soon a few thoughts of Henry took shape and she didn't pay too much mind. Well, not until all of a sudden the more aggressive side suddenly shoved a thought down and engulfed the peace she had felt in regret and fear. Her eyes shoot open as their breathing picked up and she placed her hand, not petting Army, on her chest to try to catch her breath.

"What was that?"

"YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW."

"After that little emotion bubble bursting in our chest, I think I ought to know."

"YOU REALLY DON'T."

"Why not?"

"...IF I TELL YOU, YOU CAN'T FREAK OUT IMMEDIATELY."

She didn't like where this was going, but curiosity drew her in. The feeling seemed to do nothing but cause trouble for the both of them.

"I won't."

"YOU HAVE TO HEAR ME ALL THE WAY OUT."

"I will."

"NOW LISTEN I DON'T KNOW WE THOUGHT OF THIS, BECAUSE OF-I DON'T REALLY...AND YOU DON'T...UGH."

She gulped before continuing.

"I THINK I KNOW A WAY TO KEEP HENRY OFF OUR BACK IF WE END UP IN SCENARIO TWO."

"Really!"

"YES."

"Alright, what is it?"

"DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?"

"Yes, I do."

"OKAY, YOU KNOW WE HAVE TO DO IT?"

"Um, no."

She felt confusion at the other's nervousness, but that didn't last long. After what she heard next though a shot of fear and disbelief pierced her heart.

"WE HAVE TO KILL HENRY."

She was sure that she had heard her other half wrong. Certainly, she had misspoken, so she waited for a second for her friend to realize her mistake and correct it. She didn't. Maybe she didn't realize that she made a mistake, so she decided to be polite about it and help her.

"Sorry, I didn't quite get that. Can you repeat it?"

One of Alice's eyebrows rose up and she could sense confusion from the other.

"REPEAT MYSELF? IT CAME OUT OF OUR, SO YOUR, MOUTH. HOW DID YOU NOT GET THAT?"

"Can you just repeat it?"

"OKAY, LOOK IT'S CRAZY, BUT IF THINGS DON'T WORK OUT WE MIGHT HAVE TO...BLIP OFF HENRY."

She took another breath.

"Can-can you repeat-"

"I'M NOT REPEATING IT AGAIN."

"Oh."

She paused for a second before a quick realization occurred.

"I get it, you're pulling my leg. Very funny, but we have much more important issues to talk about so no more joking."

"I KNEW YOU MIGHT TAKE THIS BADLY, BUT I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE THIS BAD."

"What are you talking about?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. I'M BEING SERIOUS, IF THINGS GO SOUTH WE MIGHT HAVE TO DO HENRY IN."

She waited, she waited for the next punchline or her half to say "gotcha" or something. She didn't and after a minute or two of strained silence, did the words fully start to sink in.

"I see."

That was all she could mumble out as her mind became blank. Brief memories of the man flickered in her head with it all ending on an image of a cartoony headstone. She nervously twiddled her thumbs as she stared straight ahead.

"ARE YOU OKAY, THERE?"

She took a deep breath before knowing her answer.

"Yes."

"GOOD, AND I KNOW THE THING WITH HENRY MIGHT BE HARD TO THINK ABOUT. BUT I REALLY DON'T KNOW IF WE-"

"Yes."

"...YES?"

She heavily swallowed a glob of ink down her throat.

"Yes, I agree if things get bad we may have to punch his ticket."

Alice was silent on both sides for a moment. One side was surprised, shocked, and somewhat confused at the other's sudden acceptance of the act of killing Henry. The other...the other she didn't know what was going on there. It was like someone had flicked a switch and now she could feel anything from her.

"YOU ARE NOT OKAY."

"I am."

"FINE."

"Fine."

The quietness between them, that had been occurring a lot lately, wasn't tense or unsettling. It wasn't peaceful mind you, but rather with a passive aggressive type feel. Now, something was up. For the usually loud one, who brought up killing, was taken back. She couldn't read or make out the other's emotions and hadn't had a clue of why the half was fine with the new plan. A second ago she was taking as a joke, but now she had simply gone with it and seemed to be willing to kill. She had done a full 360 in a matter of seconds.

Perhaps, someone should've spoken up about the plans again or made an effort to talk. Yet, neither side was sure what to say. Even then if she asked her what was wrong, she most likely just be told "nothing". It was then that Alice realized it, she was so close to escaping and being free so maybe that's why they were falling apart. Before Henry's arrival they had stick together to survive, but now with freedom around the corner, it seemed that had allowed them to think more out of the box.

Knowing that they would soon be escaping was what was ruining everything. That's why things were starting to come to the surface quicker. That's why they were starting to stop holding their tongues and why lashing out was occurring more often from both sides. This hell hole was like a pot, that was too small, holding them and their feelings inside (and god knows what else). When escaping became an option everything just started flowing, boiling up and out.

That was the scary part though, for they weren't out of the pot yet. Before they were pushing and shoving ready to burst out of the trap. But if they took advantage of growing pressure and pouring out their feelings and arguments, it could make them more vulnerable later. For if they let out too much then they would let down their guard and steam. They could blow out their steam and condense, that would stop them from escaping the pot and then, BAM! The pot could place a lid on its one way out and have even a greater hold on something that no longer was too big for it. And there was only way too prevent that.

They knew they needed to talk about it, but their thoughts were interrupted by the yell of a familiar elevator. Now snapping back to reality they realized two things: one thing was that they needed to give Henry a new job and the other was that the angel on their shoulder seemed worried. Army had been perched on her shoulder the whole time. How she had forgotten about it she didn't know. But not wanting to worry the little plush she decided to just cover up her feelings by teasing it.

"You worried about me, buddy?"

She poked the plush's little cheek and watched its face scrunch up. It then crossed its arms and huffed before turning its head away. She held back a light chuckle and picked Army off of her shoulder. The plushy yelped and squirmed a little in her grasp as she carefully brought it down to the ground. When it touched the ground and she let go, Army slapped her hand and yelled angrily.

"Jeez, calm down."

"IT'S NOT LIKE WE HIT YOU OR SOMETHING."

It continued to yell as Alice stood up and rose from her spot on the ground. Being careful to not step on the plush as she moved around, she headed over to her crate. She reached in blindly and pulled out the first thing she had. Glancing down at the blade of the ax in her hands she wasn't sure whether to arm him or not, considering what she might have to do later.

However, she didn't have long to think about it. The sound of a ready to fall elevator stopping caught her attention as it echoed down the halls and into her chamber. So, she just swung it over her shoulder and made her way to her boardwalk. A few drops of ink dripped from the ceiling and landed on her, but she paid it no mind.

Now, she knew she'd have to talk about the deal with Henry again. For this wasn't something they could undo once he was dead. Also for the reason of gaining an understanding between the two halves. For if the continued to bicker and flow through the holes, they might lose their chance to escape. But for now, they had a bigger thing at hand. They had to give Henry one last errand and they had to catch the perfect Boris.

Walking towards the metal hatch and listening to the echoing of her errand boy's feet, she shifter the ax around in thought. As his feet grew closer and she couldn't hear anyone else with him, Alice peeked through the little hole.  _Where's the Boris? I DON'T KNOW. You think he's still on the elevator? PROBABLY, DIDN'T HE JUST COME OFF ONCE? Good point._

Henry drew closer and walked over to the bin to deposit his finds. She moved away from her little spying hole and stuck her ax in the turnstile contraption. Thinking about what do for a second she asked herself,  _HEY, WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN? Fun? How are we gonna have some fun? I MEAN WE'RE GETTING OUT SOON SO MIGHT AS WELL ENJOY OURSELVES, RIGHT?...What do you have in mind?_

"LISTEN UP HENRY!"

She quietly walked over to her little peeping hole to watch him tense up.

"YOU SEE THOSE GRINNING DEMONS? LET'S REMOVE THEM, SHALL WE? I'VE GOT JUST THE TOOL TO MAKE THIS EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE."

Alice pushed the button and watched the ax swing around and be replaced by the returning wrench. She leaned on the side of the wall as she listened to the elevator's screaming as it ascended to a floor above. Letting out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in and she rubbed her thumb over the palm of her hand. She watched the ink gunk stretch and pull under the pressure and for a few seconds, she couldn't even tell where her thumb ended.

"So."

"SO."

She kept up the soothing motion into their conversation.

"...What's happening to us?"

"I DON'T KNOW."

"I mean we-we argued but it never was um-I"

"AS MUCH AS WE DO NOW, HUH."

"Yeah."

"WHY DO YOU THINK WE'RE FIGHTING MORE?"

"I...I don't know what to think anymore, but I know we can't go on like this."

"..."

"So, let's just try not to fight until we leave."

"FINE."

"Okay."

Alice pulled away and watched a long thin glob of ink s from her fingertip to her palm. It reminded her of a paste as she watched pulled her thumb back a little father and stretch. It dripped down back into her palm until the "string" snapped and snuck back into her inky skin. It was a strange feeling and it sent a shiver up her spine. At moments like this, the reality would somehow set in even more, like the ink did.

"WE CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS."

"Oh?"

"WE NEED TO THINK OF PLAN TO GET THAT BORIS AND FINISH US."

"Right!"

The sound of one's long gone footsteps echoed and the sicking cracking sound of wood could be heard as well. The sound of ink dripping from the pipes became a little louder. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.

"IT SEEMS THE DEVIL WOKE UP."

"Huh, he really likes those paintings of him."

"MAN AND PEOPLE SAY WE'RE FULL OF OURSELVES."

"Ha, got that right."

In that minute things felt familiar to them. It was dreary and the walls may be leaking ink down. But the light banter between them had at least returned for a moment. Although neither one would admit it, after all the stress and bickering between them it felt nice.

"Anyway, So."

"SO."

"How are we gonna get that Boris?"

She brought her hand up to her face tapped it against her chin.

"FROM WHAT WE CAN TELL, HE'S PROBABLY ALWAYS WITH HENRY."

"Except when it comes to our floor."

"THAT'S TO BE EXPECTED THOUGH, WE DO HAVE QUITE THE REPUTATION."

"If all the no angel signs don't prove that then nothing will."

She just gave her a hum of acknowledgment to that before continuing.

"THE REAL DEAL IS HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET IT?"

"I guess we're gonna have to trap it."

"OR SNEAK UP ON IT AND KNOCK OUT."

"Yeah, we're very good at that."

Alice nodded and crossed her arms.

"NOW ALL WE GOTTA DO IS FIGURE OUT HOW TO TRAP IT."

The screeching of the elevator descending made her jump a little.

"Speaking of traps, that thing will the death of someone soon."

"DIDN'T SOMEONE SAY THAT BEFORE?"

"I think so, well whoever they were they were right."

"SERIOUSLY I'M JUST WAITING FOR THAT THING TO SNAP AND DRAG SOME POOR FOOL DOWN WITH IT."

"Down to into a pit of pure darkness for all of eternity."

"OR AT THE HIT ON THE LAST FLOOR WOULD HURT."

"I'd hate to be that idiot."

As soon as she finished that sentence a light bulb went off in the other's thoughts.

"THAT'S HOW WE'LL DO IT."

"Do what?"

Alice walked over and peeked through the hole to make sure no one was around. She put her ear to it then and listened carefully. When all she got was distant footsteps with the creaking boards, and little drops of ink splatting she opened up the metal gateway. She took another quick glance around before exposing herself.

Creeping around as quietly and quickly as she could Alice made her way over to the elevator shaft. She pushed herself up against the creaky closed metal doors and look on inwards. Now looking up or down would result in nothing but an endless view of darkness, but looking over towards the other side she could vaguely make out a shape. Staring harder near the far off towards there, she could barely make out the shape of a rope like thing.

"THAT MUST BE WHAT PULLS THIS DEATH BOX UP AND DOWN."

"What are we doing."

"I THINK I JUST FIGURED OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA GET US A BORIS."

"How are we-Oh."

"I TAKE IT YOU FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHAT I'M GETTING AT."

"I see, but there's a problem with this isn't there?"

"WHAT PROBLEM?"

"Henry's using it right now."

"OH PLEASE, THERE'S ALWAYS THE STAIRS."

"True."

"COMMON, WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO."

Alice turned away and made her way back to her room.

"What are doing?"

"I HOPE YOU'RE GOOD AT BUILDING THINGS BECAUSE WE GOTTA MAKE US A RAMP."

"A ramp?"

She walked calmly over the boards that held up above the body filled pond.

"WE GOTTA GET ACROSS THERE TO CUT THE WIRE SOMEHOW."

"I know but we've never built anything like this before, heck even this bridge we just pulled off from an area with a giant hole in the floor."

"WELL, WE GOTTA START SOMEWHERE."

She pushed open the door to her room. The sounds of shuffling came from inside her crate in the corner, but it didn't surprise her. Army had been in there plenty of times before.

"She sure loves digging around in there."

"I DON'T KNOW WHY, IT'S JUST FULL OF RANDOM STUFF."

"To be fair she could just be bored."

"I GUESS."

As she listened to the plush shuffle around and move things she let her mind wander for a second. Then it was the other side's turn for a light bulb to go off in her thoughts.

"That's it!"

"WHAT?"

"I know how we can build that ramp, or rather someone who might."

"HUH?"

"Think about it if those plushies could put up boards and block off hallways then they got to have some idea of how to build things."

"WELL, THAT'S NICE AND ALL BUT WE DON'T IF THEY DID THAT."

"Okay, but think about the toy room. Not a shelf was broken and nothing was that badly destroyed. It was a little too well put together for being warn down for the time."

"YOU'RE RIGHT…"

"Someone had to have fixed it."

She rubbed her chin and stared at the crate as the little angel poked her head out of the top of it.

"YOU MIGHT BE ONTO SOMETHING."

"Army, How would you like to help us?"

It just tilted its head to the side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm really sorry that I haven't been updating regularly. I had a serious family emergency to deal with for the last month. Things are finally getting better and smoothing out now, so I'll start updating again weekly on Saturdays. To make up for the last few missing posts, here's an extra long chapter for you guys.


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